Gautam Gambhir has rubbished the rumours that he does not like MS Dhoni and that all is not well between the two former India teammates, who won two World Cups together. In fact, Gambhir has said that he has so much respect for MS Dhoni that he will be the first person to stand next to him.

Past comments of Gautam Gambhir on MS Dhoni led many to believe in a rift between the two stalwarts of Indian cricket – whether it was the former’s comment on his 97-run knock in the 2011 World Cup final or on Dhoni’s captaincy in the 2012 CB series in Australia. However Gambhir, on March 18, finally cleared the air on this rumoured rift with Dhoni.

Speaking to Jatin Sapru’s show ‘Over and Out’ on YouTube, Gambhir absolutely dismissed the rumours, saying that he has a lot of mutual respect for Dhoni and that he would always be the first person to stand beside him in times of 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,” Gambhir said.

Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni shared the Indian dressing room for nearly a decade and were part of some of the most memorable triumphs for Team India, including the ICC T20 World Cup win in 2007 and the ICC ODI World Cup win in 2011.

Gambhir, the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain, will now be mentoring Lucknow Super Giants for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting from March 26. He did admit to difference to the difference in opinion between them but clarified that it had nothing to do with the respect he has for Dhoni.

“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,” he added.

Further, Gambhir reiterated his past comment on Dhoni, saying that the latter had the capability to break all white-ball records had he batted at No.3 for India. And Gambhir may not have been entirely wrong. 

“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 signed off.

Gambhir made his international debut before Dhoni in 2003 itself but he went on to play for a number of years under the latter’s captaincy. He was also Dhoni’s deputy across formats for a number of years for India and led them in the former’s absence in six matches.