Former Pakistan cricketer calls Virat Kohli a deserter; Gautam Gambhir shuts him up with a perfect response

Ever since it was clear that India and Pakistan will be facing at least twice in the Asia Cup, the fans in both the countries brace up for the contest. But the selectors resting Indian captain Virat Kohli didn’t go down well with many and one of them was the former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir Ahmed. He called Kohli a ‘deserter’ for not playing the Asia Cup which didn’t go down well with Gautam Gambhir and he lashed out at Tanvir over his comments.

Kohli was troubled with a bad back during the recently concluded Test series in England and a rest was necessary for him. Rohit Sharma was appointed the skipper of the Indian team and they are still looking a strong unit to lift the Asia Cup this year. But Pakistani media is not ready to accept this fact and have been constantly commenting on Virat’s absence.

Tanvir Ahmed took a dig at India’s regular captain and questioned his commitment. He pointed out that when he can play in England despite being injured, then Kohli should’ve also played the Asia Cup. He also went on to say that India’s best batsman ran away from his responsibility knowing that he will have to play Pakistan thrice.

Gambhir’s perfect reply

“Meri nazar mein Virat Kohli bhaag gaye hain. England ki wo poori series khele. England ki Test series mein unko back ka problem hua, uske baad bhi wo matches khele. Jab ek player apne mulk ke liye England ki series khel sakta hai, toh jab usko pata hai Asia Cup jitna bada event aa raha hai, toh jab wo England series survive kar sakta hai toh Asia Cup bhi survive kar sakta hai. Mere mulk ke matches Pakistan ke khilaaf hone hain, ek baar nahi teen baar, toh aise bhaag jaana,” Tanvir said on ABP News. (In my view, Virat Kohli has run away. He played the entire Test series in England. He suffered a back problem in the limited-overs series in England. He continued to play despite that. When a player can play a series against England for his country battling a back issue, then he could have managed to play in Asia Cup as well. Kohli knew that India might have to play with Pakistan on three occasions including the final which is why he ran away.)

Gautam Gambhir was not at all pleased with his remarks over Kohli and reminded Tanvir of his own international career. The left-hander highlighted the fact Kohli has 35-36 centuries in ODIs and his Pakistani counterpart hasn’t played even those number of matches in his career. “Virat Kohli has 35-36 centuries to his name. He (Tanvir) doesn’t even have 35 international matches to his name,” he said.

Gambhir is known for his in your face attitude and this time it was no different and even Team India proved that they don’t need to trouble Kohli to beat Pakistan and won the game on Wednesday by eight wickets.

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