Gautam Gambhir and S Sreesanth were embroiled in an on-field spat during their Legends League Cricket (LLC) match on Wednesday. Both cricketers were part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup winning squads for the Indian cricket team and their argument has resulted in some of their former colleagues weighing in on the topic. Gambhir took to social media to post an old picture of himself along with the caption – “Smile when the world is all about attention!”. Ex- India all-rounder Irfan Pathan was quick to react to the picture as he wrote – “Smile is the best Answer brother.”
Smile is the best Answer brother.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 7, 2023
Sreesanth alleged that ex-India teammate Gambhir called him a “fixer”.
The two World Cup-winning players were involved in a heated exchange during an Eliminator match between Indian Capitals and Gujarat Giants here on Wednesday.
The umpires had to intervene ad separate the two players.
“He kept on calling me ‘fixer fixer, you are a fixer, **** off you fixer on live television on centre wicket,” Sreesanth said while going live from his Instagram handle.
“I just said ‘what are you saying’, I kept laughing in a sarcastic way. He spoke to the umpires in the same language when they tried to control him,” he added.
Sreesanth was handed a life ban by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee due to his alleged involvement in the IPL 2013 spot fixing scandal.
However, the ban was reduced to seven years in 2019 by the Supreme court of India.
“From my side, I didn’t use any bad word. Please guys support the real truth. He has been doing it with a lot of people. I have no idea why he started it, it was the end of the over.
“Now his people are saying sixer sixer bola hai but unhone bola you fixer, tu fixer hai (his people are claiming he said sixer sixer but he said you are a fixer). This is not the way to talk. I’m thinking of leaving it (the incident) here but his people are trying to save him. I request you all to not fall for extra paid PR work,” Sreesanth added.
An hour after Sreesanth went live. Gambhir, who is a BJP MP from East Delhi, posted on X a picture of himself in the Indian jersey smiling, captioning it “Smile when the world is all about attention!” On Wednesday, in another Instagram live video after the game Sreesanth had called Gambhir “Mr fighter”, adding that he did not even respect senior players.
“Just wanted to clear the air with what happened with Mr fighter. One who always fights with all his colleagues. For no reason whatsoever. He does not even respect his own senior players, including Viru Bahi ( Virender Sehwag) “That’s exactly what happened today. Without any provocation, he just kept on calling me something which was very rude which shouldn’t have been said by Mr Gautam Gambhir,” Sreesanth had said.
“I am not at all at fault here. I just wanted to clear the air straight away. What Mr Gauti has done, sooner or later all of you will get to know. The words that he used and the things he said on a cricket field, live, is not acceptable.
“My family, my state, everybody has gone through so much. I fought that battle with all your support. Now people want to down me for no reason. He said things he shouldn’t have said. I will surely let you know what he said,” he reiterated.
This is not the first time Gambhir has been involved in an on field altercation. He has had fiery exchanges with Virat Kohli a couple of times during the IPL, including earlier this year when Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Lucknow Super Giants.
Gambhir was LSG’s mentor back then.
(With PTI inputs)
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