Kamran Akmal and Gautam Gambhir were involved in one of the most infamous spats in the history of India vs Pakistan encounters back in Asia Cup 2010. The former Pakistan wicketkeeper recently opened up about the confrontation, saying that it stemmed from a misunderstanding.
“It was a misunderstanding. Gautam is a very good person. We had toured Kenya together for an ‘A’ team event and became good friends. In that Asia Cup match, I appealed when he missed a shot. He was talking to himself about the miss, but I thought he said something to me. That’s how the misunderstanding happened,” Akmal said to Telecom Asia Sport.
What was the incident?
The incident happened in the 2010 edition of the Asia Cup when the two sides squared off in Sri Lanka’s Dambulla. Saeed Ajmal was bowling to Gambhir and the India batter missed a shot with the ball missing the under-edge of the bat by a whisker. But Akmal who had pounced on the ball made a huge appeal for caught behind appeal but it was ultimately turned down.
During the drinks break, Gambhir and Akmal charged at each other before the matter was defused by MS Dhoni as well as the other Pakistani players.
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What was Gambhir’s take?
On being asked the main reason behind the heated exchange, Gambhir, on a talk show with Vikram Sathaye, had said, “I missed it fully. He appealed in such a way that he thought that the ball hit the bat. Then I told him that there is no point in appealing because nothing like that happened, we just got into a heated argument and then it just got from bad to worse.”
Gambhir will be in the head coach’s seat this time around as India take on Pakistan in an Asia Cup Group A match on Sunday, their first after the two countries were on verge of war following the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year.
