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But the camaraderie of both the team’s players did not go well with former India opener Gautam Gambhir who said the friendship should be honoured outside the stadium and players must have game face on the field.
Asia Cup 2023 | What triggered Gautam Gambhir: ‘Kohli Kohli’ chant or anti-India slogans?
“When you play on the field for your national team, you must leave the friendship outside the boundary ropes. Game face hona zaroori hai. Dosti bahaar rehni chahiye. (It is important to have a game face. The friendship can remain outside during the match). There has to be an aggression in the eyes of both sets of players. You can be as friendly as you want after those six or seven hours of cricket,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“Those hours are very important, because you’re not just representing yourself, you’re representing a nation of over a billion. These days you see players of rival teams patting each other on the back and exchanging fist bumps during a match. You would never see that a few years ago,” he added.
Reacting to Gambhir’s views, former Pakistan player Shahid Afridi thinks otherwise saying players should send out message of love and respect.
“That is his thought. I think differently. We are cricketers and ambassadors as well, we all have fans across the globe. So it is better to send out message of love and respect. Yes there is aggression on the field, but there is life off the field as well,” he said.
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