Afridi apologises to Gambhir

Nov 12: Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi apologised to Gautam Gambhir for his on-field behaviour. He admitted that he was wrong on his part and also said sorry to Gambhir after the match. Both were involved in a squabble in the 20th over of the Indian innings on Sunday at Kanpur during the third ODI between India and Pakistan.

In a post match interview to a channel, Afridi confessed while replying to commentator Arun Lal that he shouldn’t have done that on the ground and it was his frustration on his teammates that belted out at Gambhir. Afridi clearly said that he was not satisfied with the efforts made by the fielders and that’s why he lost his cool.

The confrontation erupted when Gambhir collided with Afridi in the middle of the pitch after the former guided the ball to third-man and set off for a single.

Gambhir felt the Pakistani had blocked his path deliberately resulting a slinging match between the two. Umpire Ian Gould intervened in between averting any further flare-up. Gould spoke to both players separately and later to Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.

The Pakistani leg-spinner was already hit for a boundary in the same over by the batsman. Afridi didn’t take it lightly and mumbled a few hot-shots, which he later accepted. Gambhir too lost his calm and returned it back to him then and there.

However, both the captains played it safe at the post-match press conference.

“I think people love to see a little aggression of this kind in One-day cricket, isn't it?” Mahendra Singh Dhoni said at the post match conference.

“At times, aggression trickles out. I said sorry to Gambhir after the incident, these things happen. There was nothing serious about it,” opined Malik.

Malik also made it clear that Match Referee Roshan Mahanama neither called him up nor Afridi after the incident.