Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, in his autobiography, termed former India opener Gautam Gambhir as someone with “no great records and just a lot of attitude”.
In his autobiography ‘Game Changer’, Afridi launched a scathing attack on Gambhir. “Some rivalries were personal, some professional. First the curious case of Gambhir: Oh poor Gautam. He 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,” writes Afridi.
Afridi also slammed the Gambhir’s on-field attitude. “Gambhir behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond. In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal [grumpy]. It’s simple: I like happy, positive people. It doesn’t matter if they are aggressive or competitive, but you have to be positive and Gambhir wasn’t,” he writes.
Afridi, who also revealed that he is five years older than what the official records state, recollected the infamous heated exchange with Gambhir during an Asia Cup game in 2007.
“I remember the run-in with Gambhir during the 2007 Asia Cup, when he completed his single while running straight into me. The umpires had to finish it off or I would have. Clearly we had a frank bilateral discussion about each other’s female relatives,” Afridi recalled the uncharitable verbal exchange.
Afridi featured in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20 Internationals. He retired after the 2016 World T20 in India. Gambhir, who is contesting in the elections in Delhi, refused to comment on Afridi’s book.