New Delhi: Not known to pull back punches, Gautam Gambhir hit back at Shahid Afridi, offering to take him for a session with ‘a psychiatrist’ after the former Pakistan captain wrote a few uncharitableĀ things about the Indian opener.
Afridi, in his just-released autobiography ‘Game Changer’, sarcastically referred to Gambhir as someone who ‘behaves like a cross between Don Bradman and
James Bond,’ and has a ‘lot of attitude and no great records’.
Gambhir responded through his official twitter handle, tagging Afridi. “…you are a hilarious man!!! Anyway, we are still granting visas to Pakistanis for medical tourism. I will personally take you to a psychiatrist,” Gambhir tweeted.
Afridi was ready with his retort during the official launch of the book here. “He (Gambhir) has a mental problem and if he wants I can get him treated at my hospital,” Afridi said in response to the Indian batsman’s tweet. “If he faces any visa problem I will get it processed quickly for him,” Afridi said. The duo never shared a great rapport on and off the field and it was reflected in Afridi’s take on Gambhir in the book.
“Some rivalries were personal, some professional. First the curious case of Gambhir. Oh poor Gautam. He & 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,” Afridi wrote.
The two had an angry bust up during a bilateral series ODI in Kanpur back in 2007 (wrongly referred in Afridi’s book as Asia Cup game). “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.