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Gautam Gambhir World Cup column: Hope our fraternity takes a leaf out of Rashid's book

Rashid Khan donated his entire World Cup match fees for earthquake victims in Afghanistan

Published: Wed 11 Oct 2023, 5:00 AM

Updated: Thu 12 Oct 2023, 11:59 AM

  • By
  • Gautam Gambhir

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Rashid Khan during a practise session. — AFP

Rashid Khan during a practise session. — AFP

Almost every time Afghanistan step out to play on a sporting field, there is a context of a gloomy socio-political background. Add to that our neighbour is now jostling with the aftermaths of one of the deadliest earthquakes. Some of the photos of the calamity are extremely depressing. I really wonder how the Afghanistan cricket team are able to concentrate on the job at hand in this ongoing ICC World Cup.

India started off well in Chennai. A lot of you might disagree but I loved the nature of Chennai pitch. It tested the patience and the skills of a batsman. Seeing the crowd at Chennai it seemed they loved the low-scoring contest. That is exactly what I keep stressing on.


We don’t need gimmicks to keep alive the 50-over format, all we need is good, balanced pitches where there is a proper contest between bat and ball. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli batted really well. I was most impressed by Rahul who was decisive in his footwork and played the ball late. His square of the wicket strokes on the off-side were breathtaking. He was near flawless against Australia.

It was once again good to see Kohli absorb all the pressure. With the scoreboard reading 3 wickets for 2 runs, it is a challenging task for any batsman whatever be the conditions. Australian aggression and fielding added about 20-30 runs to the original target of 200.

Kohli switched to the ‘dog-fight’ mode, dug deep and strung singles to get the scoreboard ticking. That is why I love this game. On Sunday it tested Rahul and Kohli on different parameters and today it will be asking different questions to the Afghanistan team.

I remember when 26/11 terror attacks happened in 2008 I was part of the Indian team. We were playing England in Cuttack that day. The team was stunned seeing pictures on news channels.

Cricket had paled off deep in the background. It really takes nerves of steel and more to still come out and play. And no, but I don’t believe in cricket or cinema or any other form of entertainment being a real healer. At best, sport or in this case tomorrow’s World Cup game against India can serve as a seven-hour distraction for those affected.

Rashid Khan donated his entire World Cup match fees for earthquake victims. I would have loved to see a bit more compassion from the cricketing fraternity. A financial aid would have definitely helped but I have heard nothing on that front so far.

Even more disappointing is the fact that there hasn’t been a customary minute’s silence or teams wearing black arm bands as a mark of respect for earthquake victims. I remember during World Test Championships final earlier this year Indian and Australian teams observed a minute’s silence and played wearing black armbands to pay homage to the 260 dead in Orissa train accident.

I hope we haven’t reached a stage where administrators are deciding which deaths to mourn and which ones to not. It would be nice to see the Indian team play wearing black arm bands today. (Gameplan/Dinesh Chopra Media)



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