"Bad For Subcontinental Cricket": Gautam Gambhir's Huge Take On India-Pakistan Rivalry

Former Indian cricket team opener Gautam Gambhir believes that there is a massive difference between India and Pakistan right now and the dominance enjoyed by the Rohit Sharma-led side is not good news for subcontinental cricket. Pakistan were completely outplayed by India in the Cricket World Cup 2023 clash with Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer playing brilliant knocks to follow up a good show by the bowlers. Gambhir pointed out that India have dominated the rivalry lately and in case India and Pakistan play a bilateral series at the moment, he believes that it will not be a competitive affair.

"Hammering along with domination. You use this word very rarely, that too when you are playing against Pakistan. If you see the results, Pakistan used to hammer India like this for a long time. However, for the last many years, India have dominated. This is bad for subcontinental cricket. We always used to say that if we have an India-Pakistan series, it will be competitive. An India-Pakistan series is not going to be competitive at all because there is a massive difference between the two sides," he told Star Sports.

Gambhir was also full of praise for Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav after their disciplined bowling performance against Pakistan. He also weighed in on the comparisons with Shaheen Afridi and 

"If any captain has Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, it is a huge luxury. Out of 50 overs, you get 20 overs from bowlers who can give you wickets anytime. You were comparing Jasprit Bumrah with Shaheen Shah Afridi. Jasprit Bumrah's first spell was under the 2 PM sun and he hardly gave any runs in his first four overs," Gambhir explained.

With wins over Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, India have put themselves in strong contention for semi-final qualification in Cricket World Cup 2023.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Babar Azam Rohit Sharma Gautam Gambhir World Cup 2023 Cricket