Asia Cup: Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir not in favour of FRIENDSHIP between players during match
Virat Kohli (L) and Shadab Khan on the eve of India vs Pak Asia Cup tie (Source: @cricketpakcompk)
Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir, who was famous for having many confrontations on the ground, especially with Pakistan players, said that he's not in favour of on-field camaraderie between opposition players. Gambhir's comments came after Indian players were seen mingling with Pakistan players during the Asia Cup 2023 tie on Saturday, September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Gambhir, now a Member of Parliament in India, was part of the mid-game show on Star Network. He also said that because of this 'bonding' shown by the players, the games nowadays don't have much aggression.
“When you play on the field for your national team, you must leave the friendship outside the boundary ropes. Game face is a must. Friendship should stay outside. There has to be an aggression in the eyes of both sets of players. You can be as friendly as you want after those six or seven hours of cricket. Those hours are very important, because you’re not just representing yourself, you’re representing a nation of over a billion,” Gambhir said.
“These days you see players of rival teams patting each other on the back and exchanging fist bumps during a match. You would never see that a few years ago. You are playing a friendly match only,” he added.
The former cricketer, who had multiple fights with Pakistan players during his playing days, was also asked about his fight with Pak keeper Kamran Akmal in 2010 Asia Cup. Gambhir said that there's no bad blood between them despite that argument.
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“We’re very good friends. In fact, I gave him a bat and he gave me a bat too. I played one whole season with a bat Kamran had given me. We spoke for an hour recently,” Gambhir said.
As of the match in Asia Cup 2023, India batted first and scored 266 in 48.5 overs before rain washed out the chase and the match was abandoned.
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