New Delhi: Pakistan's cricketers are under the scanner at home but they have found support from an unlikely quarter - their Indian counterparts. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Gautam Gambhir said it just wasn't imaginable that players would be involved in such activities.
"If you ask me, any of the professional cricketers would hate to do that, would never do that," Gambhir said. "For someone who is playing for his country, who are representing their nation would never in their wildest dreams would do that, whether it's Pakistan, India or any other country."
Gambhir reasoned that as a sport which has earned players fame and fortune, it would be impossible to throw away matches.
"Who would want to throw matches away intentionally," he added. "I think no one as a professional cricketer would do so because cricket has given them everything - fame and everything they have achieved in life - it's only out of cricket. So if you ask me, I don't believe that Pakistan would have lost that game (semi-final against New Zealand).
Gambhir, who would be leading Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural Champions League T20 competition, added that the high expectations from fans in the sub-continent adds tremendous pressure on the players.
"This is the expectation that people have in the sub-continent, whether it's India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka," he said. "People expect you to win each and every game possible, whenever you walk onto the field, which is not humanly possible. You are bound to have bad days, sometimes you don't play to your potential. But the expectations that people have are huge.
"At the same time they need to be realistic as well," he added. "There would be times when your team won't be playing well, and there would be times when things just won't go your way. You still need to support at that point of time rather than keep criticising them."
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