Shahid Afridi Opens Up on his Rivalry with Virat Kohli

The veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi recently talked about his rapport with Indian cricketers off the field. The rivalry between India and Pakistan has been there for many years. Whenever there is a cricket match between the two countries, it is not seen as a simple game. Instead, the emotions of millions of fans from both countries get involved in it.?

In his memoir, Gamechanger, Shahid Afridi stressed on how the equation between the cricket players of both India and Pakistan have changed over the years. The cricketer revealed that though there used to be tension between both the teams on the field but outside he was good friends with Indian cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Saurav Ganguly, and Anil Kumble.?

He further added that the interpersonal relationship has changed now between the players and ‘politics has seeped in everywhere’.?

Talking about his rivalry with India’s current captain Virat Kohli, Shahid Afridi confessed that the arrival of Kohli was not beneficial for him as Indians have always been good against spin bowling.?

“A new rivalry developed over my last years. Virat Kohli versus me. His batting was peaking when my bowling career was culminating”?

Afridi added, “There were healthy rivalries too. Virat. Yuvi. Bhajji. Zaheer Khan. We evened things out by hanging out and chilling together post-match. But in the last four or five years, as relations between the two countries soured politically, things got very edgy,?

Gautam Gambhir has a lot of attitude: Shahid Afridi

While Afridi spoke highly about Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Sachin Tendulkar, he slammed players like Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.?

The all-rounder said that Gambhir has a lot of attitude despite not being a very valuable player for the Indian cricket team.?

Afridi remarked, “Gautam Gambhir and his attitude problem. He, who has no personality. He, who is barely a character in the great scheme of cricket. Gambhir has no great records, just a lot of attitude. He, who behaves like he?s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond.?

Though Shahid Afridi praised Virender Sehwag for his batting techniques, he seemed upset with his tweets against Pakistan.?

The 40-year-old said, “Look at Virender Sehwag. Look at the negative statements he makes on Twitter about Pakistan. Is that responsible behavior? Consider his fans all over the world. Consider his fans here, in Pakistan?We are ambassadors. We can?t be partisan, except on the field. In this new, hyper India, Kohli, Sehwag and Co. clearly don?t get that,??