Former India star batter and World Cup 2011 winner Gautam Gambhir finally opened up on the alleged rift between him and legendary India skipper MS Dhoni. Gambhir quashed every rumour supporting a crack between the two rather said that he has a lot of mutual respect for the 2011 World Cup winning captain.
Cricketer turned politician, for his sharp comments on Dhoni have often been targeted while on the contrary he said that he will be the first person to stand next to Dhoni in need. Speaking to Jatin Sapru on his YouTube show 'Over and Out', Gambhir cleared the air on this rumoured rift with Dhoni.
"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," the 40-year-old said.
Gambhir didn't shy away to mention that he has been the vice-captain of the side the longest time in Dhoni's regime and also admitted that he has got so much mutual respect for four-time IPL winning captain.
"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," he added.
While eulogising Dhoni, Gambhir made a big statement that had the Jharkhand-born cricketer batted at no.3, he would have broken all the records.
"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 concluded.
Gambhir made his debut for the Indian team much before Dhoni in 2003 itself but he went on to play for a number of years under the latter's captaincy. Gambhir played an instrumental role in India's 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup wins under Dhoni's captaincy and was Man of the Match in the finals of both the tournaments.
