Gautam Gambhir wants India, Pakistan teams to ‘leave friendship outside boundary ropes’, says ‘all this happened…’

livemint.com:

Pakistan during Saturday's washed-out match. Recalling his playing days, Gambhir advised the players to keep their friendships away from the boundary ropes.

"When you play on the field for your national team, you must leave the friendship outside the boundary ropes. Having a game face is necessary.

Friendship should stay outside" Gambhir was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. While placing much of the blame on franchise cricket, Gambhir claimed he never witnessed friendly banter or warm comments directed at each other during an India-Pakistan match. “Even during friendly conversations with the opponents, we had aggression in our because you are representing your country and trying to win the game for them.

" Gambhir told Star Sports. “You are free to be friends with the opponents after those 6-7 hours… But those 6-7 hours are very important because it isn't just about you or the jersey you are wearing- you are representing 140 crore Indians", the former cricketer added. Speaking to Star Sports, Gambhir vehemently disagreed with former teammate Mohammad Kaif's suggestion that KL Rahul should be given the number five spot on his comeback to the Indian team, despite Ishan Kishan's heroics against Pakistan Reminding Kaif about the kind of form Kishan has been in, Gambhir said, "Had Kohli or Rohit made those four consecutive fifties, would you have said the same thing about KL Rahul? When you are preparing to win a World Cup, you don't look at a name, you look at the form of a player that could win you the trophy," Notably, the 25 year old batter had hit his fourth consecutive ODI half century against Pakistan helping the Indian side get to a respectable total after losing four early wickets for 66 runs.