New Delhi:
Shahid Afridi’s autobiography ‘Game Changer’ is already in the news for having finally revealed the former Pakistan skipper’s age. Afridi revealed that he was born in 1975 and not 1980 as the official records state. The revelations in his autobiography mean that Afridi was not 16 when he smashed a record-breaking 37-ball hundred against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in 1996. "I was just nineteen, and not sixteen as they claim. I was born in 1975. So yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly," Afridi had written. Now, in another explosive claim, he has lashed out at former India opener and current BJP candidate from East Delhi Gautam Gambhir.
"Some rivalries were personal, some professional. First the curious case of Gambhir. Oh, poor Gautam. He and his attitude problem. He has no personality. He who is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket. He has no great records just a lot of attitude. Gambhir behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond. In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal (burnt up). It’s simple, I like happy, positive people. Doesn’t matter if they are aggressive or competitive, but you have to be positive and Gambhir wasn’t," Afridi revealed in his autobiography.
The rivalry between Afridi and Gambhir all came to the fore during the 2007 bilateral series which was played between India and Pakistan in India. The flashpoint was in the Kanpur ODI where Gambhir collided with Afridi while taking a run and there was an intense exchange of words between the duo. Both were fined for the incident and Afridi recalled that moment, stating they had a frank bilateral discussion.
“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 wrote.
Gambhir is the current BJP candidate who is fighting in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections from East Delhi. In an exclusive interaction with News Nation, Gambhir outlined his vision for Delhi and what he intends to bring onto the political field after retiring from all forms of cricket in December 2018. “A captain has to have a lot of honesty, accountability, and integrity. These are the three things I am gonna take in politics as well. I am straightforward, I have a vision and I want to develop Delhi. I am a Delhi boy and have emotional connect with the city and my vision would be to make East Dehli constituency the best in the national capital,” Gambhir said.
