"He's like my brother" - Kamran Akmal on his equation with Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir
Former Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal feels there's no bad blood between him and Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir, despite their previous on-field heated exchange. The two had a go at each other during an Asian Cup match in 2010.
However, Akmal has clarified that he now shares a good friendship with Gambhir, who is like a brother to him. He also congratulated the cricketer-turned-coach on his maiden Test series victory as India's new head coach.
Gambhir's maiden Test assignment as coach was India's recently concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh. The Men in Blue completed a stunning 2-0 whitewash over the visitors.
Akmal told CricBlog:
"Even with Gautam Gambhir too. I mean me and Gautam are good friends too. I share a good relation with him. He's like my brother. In fact, I'd like to congratulate Gautam on winning his first Test as a coach, so happy for him"
It is worth mentioning that Gambhir and Akmal's face-off happened after the latter's loud appeal for a caught behind in the Asia Cup match. The on-field umpire adjudged it not out and unimpressed by the appeal, Gambhir confronted Akmal during the drinks break.
"We used to talk a lot about wicket-keeping" - Kamran Akmal on MS Dhoni
In the same interview, Kamran Akmal also reserved high praise for former India skipper MS Dhoni. He mentioned that the two would often have discussions about wicketkeeping and batting.
"No doubt MS Dhoni is someone with a different mentality altogether, an absolute match-winner and he's super calm. The way he played was fantastic, and had a fantastic career. We used to talk a lot about wicket-keeping, we used to talk a lot about batting and yeah, it was often good to talk to Dhoni," he said.
Akmal pointed out that players continue to seek advice from Dhoni whenever they get a chance to meet him. Hailing the 43-year-old as India's greatest captain, he added:
"Even today when me or any player meets Dhoni internationally or during tours, they seek advice, ask him doubts and learn from him. They should take advice from him, after all he's a senior player. He's such a good performer, he's a legend, he's India's greatest captain."
Kamran Akmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2023. With 453 dismissals to his name in international cricket, he has the most dismissals by a Pakistani wicketkeeper.