Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir was not impressed with the newly found on-field warmness between arch rivals India and Pakistan during the washed out game on Saturday. Reminiscing of his playing days, Gambhir advised the players to keep the friendships outside the boundary ropes.
“When you play on the field for your national team, you must leave the friendship outside the boundary ropes. Having a game face is necessary. Friendship should stay outside” Gambhir was quoted as saying by The Indian Express
While putting a significant portion of the blame on franchise cricket, Gambhir claimed that he never experienced friendly banter or warm comments being passed at each other during an India-Pakistan game.
“Even during friendly conversations with the opponents, we had aggression in our because you are representing your country and trying to win the game for them. ”
“You are free to be friends with the opponents after those 6-7 hours… But those 6-7 hours are very important because it isn’t just about you or the jersey you are wearing- you are representing 140 crore Indians”
Look at the form of the player who can win you the trophy: Gambhir
During an interaction with Star Sports, Gambhir vehemently argued against his former teammate Mohammad Kaif’s suggestion that KL Rahul should be given the number 5 position upon his comeback in the Indian team despite the heroics of Ishan Kishan during the Pakistan game.
Reminding Kaif about the kind of form Kishan has been in, Gambhir said, “Had Kohli or Rohit made those four consecutive fifties, would you have said the same thing about KL Rahul? When you are preparing to win a World Cup, you don’t look at a name, you look at the form of a player that could win you the trophy,”
Notably, the 25 year old batter had hit his fourth consecutive ODI half century against Pakistan helping the Indian side get to a respectable total after losing four early wickets for 66 runs.
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Updated: 03 Sep 2023, 10:27 AM IST
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