Shahid Afridi, Gambhir's handshake sparks old rivalry, triggers meme fest

By: News Desk
Published: 09:34 AM, 11 Mar, 2023
Shahid Afridi, Gambhir's handshake sparks old rivalry, triggers meme fest
Caption: An awkward handshake for Gautam Gamdhir.
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Pakistan’s master-blaster Shahid Afridi and former Indian batter Gautam Gambhir rekindled their old rivalry when the two former cricketers led their respective teams in the season opener of the Legends League Cricket in Doha, Qatar.
There is no shortage of history between Gautam Gambhir and Shahid Afridi. Ever since the two had their infamous heated exchange during an India vs Pakistan ODI back in 2007, the two have not seen eye-to-eye. 

Over the years, Gambhir and Afridi have traded barbs at each other, sometimes indirectly and on other occasions, sitting across each other in studios. But on Friday, when for the first time after almost a decade, the two former cricketers came face-to-face with each other in the opening match of the Legends League Cricket season 2, sparks flew.

Gambhir, captain of India Maharajas, and Afridi, the skipper of Asia Lions shared the same screen when they walked out for the toss. 

After Asia Lions won the toss and opted to bat, what followed was an awkward handshake between the two legends. Afridi gave himself into the handshake with a smile on his face, but Gambhir kept his emotions in check, which he did throughout his cricketing career. And this interaction between the two led to a meme fest on Twitter. Here are some of them:

https://twitter.com/Muskan_Afridi10/status/1634401528583794691

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https://twitter.com/Awesomo_Vines/status/1634215956703502336

There was more to be added in the Gambhir-Afridi episode. Both started trending on Twitter when during the second innings, Afridi grabbed the ball and bowled to a well-set Gambhir. Afridi bowled 10 balls to Gambhir, of which the former India opener scored 10 runs, including one four. There was even more interaction between Gambhir and Afridi as two overs later, the former Pakistan captain checked on his once rival. As Gambhir took a single off the bowling of Abdul Razzaq and reached the non-striker's end as a huge LBW appeal was turned down, Afridi asked the batter if there was some bat involved. Gambhir's reply was a typical shake of the head.

Gambhir was the lone star of the India Maharajas innings, scoring 54 off 39 balls including seven fours, but his effort was overshadowed by Misbah-Ul-Haq, whose knock of 73 fetched him the Player-of-the-Match award.

Gambhir was rewarded with the game-changer of the match award as the Lions edged the Maharajas by nine runs. Chasing 166 to win, Gambhir’s team finished on 156/8 in a last-over thriller, setting the tone for the remainder of the tournament.

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