Shahid Afridi and Gautam Gambhir have had a strenuous relationship over the years, butting heads on and off the field. In 2007 the pair had a verbal altercation forcing the on-field umpire to intervene. It all began when the Indian opening batter Gautam Gambhir collided with Shahid Afridi while taking a quick single in the 20th over. Both had an intense before on-field umpire Ian Gould’s separated the two cricketers. Shahid Afridi and Gambhir were reportedly fined for their spat.
Their on-field spate turned into an ugly feud with the two exchanging jibes on social media and elsewhere with Afridi even mentioning that incident in his autobiography. In a recent interview, Afridi opened up on his relationship with Gautam Gambhir, as the former Pakistan cricketer said the current Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has had issues with many players and not just him.
Gautam Gambhir’s career until now as Indian coach
Gambhir’s first assignment as Team India’s head coach was the white-ball series in Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue thumped the Lankans 3-0 in T20Is, but lost the ODI series 2-0, registering their first bilateral ODI series loss against Sri Lanka since 1997.
At home, India hammered Bangladesh 2-0 in a two-match Test series. However, they suffered their first home whitewash in a series of three or more matches as New Zealand stunned them 3-0.
While the stunning 295-run victory in the Perth Test against Australia came as relief, the 10-wicket thrashing in the second Test has brought things back on square one for Gautam Gambhir and Team India as they face an uphill battle to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) and are set to miss out on the World Test Championship Finals for the first time in history.
As per reports, the future of the current India head coach could depend on how the visitors fare in the ongoing series Down Under. With the pressure increasing on Gautam Gambhir, he has found support from a surprise source as former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi called for him to be given more time. Afridi explained that putting a new system in place takes time to show its effect and stated that the Indian head coach should be judged after 8-9 months.
One of Gautam Gambhir’s biggest on-field nemesis Shahid Afridi backs under-fire Team India coach after loss in 2nd Test
Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi were not the best friends on the cricket field. Their lack of admiration for each other spilled over into off-field controversies. Over the years, the former cricketers have exchanged barbs many times.
In a recent interview with Pakistan’s Geo News, though, Afridi batted for one of his biggest on-field nemesis, who finds himself in the firing line in the wake of the extremely poor start he has had in his stint as Team India’s head coach.
India went down to Australia by 10 wickets in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide on Sunday, December 8. The day-night ended well inside three days as the visitors were handed an absolute hammering. Sharing his thoughts on Gambhir’s rough start as India’s head coach, Afridi commented (as quoted by News 18):
“Gautam has been the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders and won, which means he has delivered something that the team won. Now has the responsibility of coaching the Indian team. Coaching the national team is a very big responsibility. He has been appointed recently. Every system takes time to take effect.”
“If it is any person, I say give him time at the least,” the 47-year-old went on to add.
India began their tour of Australia on a positive note, beating the Aussies by 295 runs in the first Test in Perth to register their biggest Test win Down Under in terms of runs. However, the hosts made a strong comeback in Adelaide to level the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-1.