Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni started playing cricket for India almost at the same time. Gautam played his first match for India in 2003 while Dhoni debuted the next year.
It was a lovely co-incidence that, seven years later, they formed the epic partnership in the World Cup Final 2011 to guide India to a stupendous victory.
However, thanks to IPL, they became their biggest rivals as well. KKR vs CSK was especially looked as one of the greatest battles of IPL.
And thanks to this rivalry, fans believed there was something not right in the equation between Dhoni and Gambhir.
Gambhir spoke on this rumoured rift for the first time when he spoke to sports anchor Jatin Sapru on his YouTube channel.
He rubbished the reports of rift, saying he has respect for what Dhoni has done and that he will stand by him if ever he is in need.
“See I have so much of mutual respect for him and it’ll always remain. I’ve said it on air, I’ll say it on your channel, I can say it anywhere in front of 138 crore people, that if ever in need, I hope he’s never in need, but if ever in need in life, I’ll be the first one standing next to him because of what he’s done for Indian cricket, what he’s as a human being,” he said.
“See we can have differences in opinion, you might look at the game a different way, I might look at the game in a different way. I’ve got my own opinions, he’s got his own opinion. I’ve actually been the vice-captain the longest time when he was the captain… We’ve been rivals on the field when we played for our respective teams. But I’ve got so much mutual respect for him, for the kind of person, the kind of cricketer he is.”
“And I can say it again, had he batted at No. 3, he would’ve broken all the records. We talk about some of the greats of No. 3 – he would’ve broken everything in white-ball cricket,” he said.