'Like a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond': Shahid Afridi slams Gautam Gambhir's attitude

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi critical of retired India opener in new book titled 'Game Changer'

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir, second from left, is running for election. Rajat Gupta / EPA

Shahid Afridi has few good things to say about Gautam Gambhir, as is evident from his autobiography titled Game Changer launched on Thursday.

In the book, former Pakistan all-rounder Afridi has characterised his rivalry with retired India opener Gambhir as "personal" even as he mostly praises Indian cricketers he played against during his two-decade-long international career.

"Oh, poor Gautam. He and his attitude problem," Afridi writes.

"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. He, who behaves like he’s a cross between Don Bradman and James Bond or something.

"In Karachi, we call guys like him saryal, burnt up."

Afridi, who scored more than 11,000 runs and took over 500 wickets before ending his international career last year, blames the nature of their relationship on Gambhir's attitude.

"It’s simple: I like happy, positive people," he writes. "Doesn’t matter if they are aggressive or competitive on the field. But you have to be positive. Gambhir wasn’t."

The hard-hitting batsman/leg-spinner recalls a "run-in" with the southpaw from Delhi during a one-day international between India and Pakistan in Kanpur in 2007 "when he completed his single while running straight into me. The umpires had to finish it off or I would have".

Both players were booked for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.

Afridi's most cutting line is: "Gambhir doesn't matter. There are bigger fish to fry when playing India."

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi concedes there is no love lost between him and Gautam Gambhir. Rehan Khan / EPA

In his response, Gambhir has tweeted: "@SAfridiOfficial 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, who himself has more than 10,000 runs across formats as an opening batsman, retired from all cricket late last year before joining politics. He is running for election on a ticket offered by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from a constituency in the national capital.

Even as he finds his feet on the campaign trail, the left-hander is a subject matter of another book - this one by Rajasthan Royals coach Paddy Upton titled The Barefoot Coach.

In it, Upton writes: "I did some of my best and least effective mental conditioning work with Gautam Gambhir, the International Test Cricketer of the Year' in 2009. I worked with him up until that time but I had little to do with him being named world's best cricketer."

Upton goes on to describe Gambhir as "mentally the most insecure, negative and pessimistic" but adds it did not stop him from becoming a successful batsman.

Gambhir has responded to Upton's comments saying he is confident there are "no sinful intention in Upton's views as he is a nice man".