'He is very...' Pakistan's Shahid Afridi on old nemesis Gautam Gambhir's appointment as India coach

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reacted to Gautam Gambhir's appointment as the India head coach. On Tuesday (Jul9), BCCI announced Gambhir's appointment as the senior men's team coach until the 2027 ODI World Cup. He will take charge from the forthcoming India tour of Sri Lanka, starting later this month. Afridi,who has had on-field arguments with Gambhir during their playing days, gave an honest take on Gambhir, saying 'he is very straightforward' and has a chance to do well in his new role.

Afridi told Star Sports on the sidelines of the World Championship of Legends T20 tournament in the UK, "It's a new opportunity, it's good. Let's see how he makes the most of the opportunity. I have seen a lot of his interviews. He speaks good, positive things. He is very straightforward."

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In addition, Afridi reacted to the sacking of Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq from the PCB seven-member selection committee post Babar Azam-led Men in Green's 2024 T20 World Cup debacle. He said, "I got to know that only Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz have been sacked from the selection committee. I don't understand this surgery. If the selection committee is of 6-7 people then why only these two have been removed?"

On constant backing of captain Babar despite failures, Afridi didn't mince his words and added, "They should decide on the captain or the coach and then give them time. As far as Babar is concerned.. I have captained, Younis (Khan), and Misbah have captained a lot. A captain never got so many chances. As soon as the World Cup is over, often the captain used to be the first one who got the blame. Babar has led in two-three World Cups, two-three Asia Cups, T20 World Cups, he has had enough opportunities. If you bring in someone new, give him chances."

Coming back to Gambhir, the former Indian opener will look to add to India's ICC titles during his coaching tenure. Rohit Sharma-led India recently ended their 11-year-long ICC title drought with a win in the recently-held T20 WC, in West Indies and the USA.