Gautam Gambhir slams Shahid Afridi, asks him to figure out his age first
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has responded to Shahid Afridi's allegations of calling out the southpaw's 'poor character' and attitude problems.
In his autobiography titled 'Gamechanger', Afridi has highlighted certain topics such as the politically strained relations between India and Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar's 'polished' style of play and more topics.
Afridi, in his book, also stressed on why he liked to play matches against Gautam Gambhir while shining light on the southpaw's attitude.
"(Gautam Gambhir) and his attitude problem. He, who has no personality. He, who is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket. He, who has no great records, just a lot of attitude. He, who behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond,” said Afridi in his book.
The Delhi-born batsman and Afridi have had multiple encounters on the field, most notably their war of words during an ODI match in Nagpur back in 2007. Earlier in May 2019, Gautam Gambhir had also claimed that Afridi was "mentally 16" and offered to personally take him to a pyschiatrist.
Less than a year since that exchange, the southpaw, who has never shied away from expressing his emotions on social media responded to Afridi's claims and slammed the former Pakistan skipper for his severe criticism.
Gautam Gambhir referred to the issue of Afridi's age propping up repeatedly and turned the clock back to one of his most memorable knocks, a 54-ball 75 that guided India to the title win.
The southpaw mentioned that Afridi got out for a duck in that game, and further added that India won the World Cup, which was the important point to note. Gautam Gambhir further added that he does have attitude, but that's only towards liars, traitors and opportunists.
One of India's best opening batsmen across formats, the left-hander played 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is for the national side, having made his debut back in 2003 against Bangladesh.
Since retiring from international cricket in 2018, Gautam Gambhir has been actively involved in politics and has also contributed to the coronavirus relief efforts that are being undertaken in the country.