Although they shared their contentious and heated moments while on the cricket pitch, Kamran Akmal has revealed that there is no grudge between him and Gautam Gambhir in the present day.

The former Pakistan wicketkeeper was often at the heart of the heated rivalry between Pakistan and India during his playing career, with the belligerent Gambhir often clashing heads with him as a counterpart on the other end.

Nevertheless, Akmal spoke glowingly of his relationship with Gambhir in an interview with CricBlogs, congratulating him on a successful start to his coaching career with the Indian national team. “Me and Gautam are good friends too. I share a good relation with him,” said Akmal. “He's like my brother. In fact, I'd like to congratulate Gautam on winning his first Test as a coach, so happy for him.”

Gambhir and Akmal were notorious for a spicy head-to-head with each other in 2010, where a contentious moment in the Asia Cup saw them need to be separated by umpires. This was not Gambhir's only dust-up with a Pakistan player, having been at loggerheads with Shahid Afridi a few years prior. Nevertheless, it seems their relationship as cricketers has improved in the years since.

The former wicketkeeper also spoke about his Indian counterpart MS Dhoni. Akmal spoke about the bond they shared as wicketkeepers on the international level: “No doubt MS Dhoni is someone with a different mentality altogether, an absolute match-winner and he’s super calm.”

“The way he played was fantastic, and had a fantastic career. We used to talk a lot about wicket-keeping, we used to talk a lot about batting and yeah, it was often good to talk to Dhoni,” said Akmal.

Kamran Akmal brought a close to his 20-plus year career in 2023, announcing his retirement in 2023. He made his debut in 2002, and was part of some famous Pakistan-India battles throughout the 2000s.

‘We can all see how good Indian cricket has now become…’

Akmal also reflected on the strengths of the BCCI compared to the PCB’s handling of the national team. “I feel very happy when I see the BCCI realise this. They know how to utilise their resources and thus, we all can see how good Indian cricket has now become. These are some basic things India are doing and hence, they’re dominating. It’s their approach.”

“Personal issues will always happen and it happens with every team. However, if you keep going with it, and constantly end the careers of players then that’s not a good sign, which is happening in Pakistan cricket,” concluded Akmal.

Gambhir oversaw India’s 2-0 Test series victory over Bangladesh with a famous win in Kanpur which bodes well for his tenure as red-ball coach. He will be in charge for the New Zealand series, as well as the all-important tour of Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later in 2024. Meanwhile, Pakistan are preparing for a significant bounce-back series at home against England after a difficult year in international cricket in 2024.

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