Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the ongoing debate of standing for national anthem in movie theatres. (Source: PTI)

If you can stand outside club for 20 mins why is it tough to stand for the 52-second long national anthem, asks cricketing icon Gautam Gambhir. Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the ongoing debate of standing for the national anthem in movie theatres on Friday morning. The southpaw took to Twitter to express his views about the same. Gambhir who is a very active user on the micro-blogging website, asked people if they can stand and wait outside a club for 20 minutes or wait outside their favourite restaurant for 30 minutes, why do they find it tough to stand for the national anthem which is just 52-second long. “Standin n waitin outsid a club:20 mins.Standin n waitin outsid favourite restaurant 30 mins.Standin for national anthem: 52 secs. Tough?” Gambhir asked on Twitter.

This is not the first time when the Kolkata Knight Riders captain made news for his strong views on patriotism. Earlier, in an interview this month, the Delhi cricketer had said that one should be patriotic throughout the year and not on selected days like Republic day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti, according to a report by The Indian Express. He had also launched a free community kitchen in West Delhi last month under the Gautam Gambhir Foundation. Here is what Gautam Gambhir tweeted about the national anthem:

Standin n waitin outsid a club:20 mins.Standin n waitin outsid favourite restaurant 30 mins.Standin for national anthem: 52 secs. Tough?

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 27, 2017

Despite his consistently good performances both in the Indian Premier League and domestic cricket, Gambhir has been out of the Indian side for a while now. The Southpaw has scored over 10,000 international runs for India. In a career spanning over a decade, Gambhir scored 5238 runs in 147 ODI matches at an average of 39.68.

Yesterday, Sonu Nigam had said that the national anthem should not be played in theatres and restaurants. Sonu said the national anthem of any country should be respected and be given the same honour. “There are some people who are saying the national anthem should be there (in cinema halls), some say it should not be there. The national anthem is a prestigious and sensitive thing and I think it should not be played in certain places in movie theatres or restaurants,” he said, as per PTI.