Controversy erupted during the Legends Cricket League match in Raipur when former India stars Gautam Gambhir and Sreesanth engaged in a bitter exchange.
The incident took place after the sixth over of India Capitals’ innings, which was bowled by Sreesanth. The former India pacer had conceded 20 off his first two overs and was seemingly going back to his fielding mark, when the altercation between the two began.
After Sreesanth’s videos condemning Gambhir for his use of “bad words” in their on-field clash – the 40-year-old former cricketer accused India’s ex-opener of branding him a “fixer” – the stump-mic additionally capturing Sreesanth confronting Gambhir over the same allegation.
While Gambhir’s remarks in the video remain unclear, Sreesanth could be clearly heard asking, “how can he say fixer?” towards the end of the video.
Sreesanth, initially handed a life ban by the BCCI for his alleged role in the Indian Premier League 2013 spot-fixing scandal, had the ban reduced to seven years in 2019 by the Supreme Court of India. The Kerala pacer also made a return to the domestic circuit after his ban ended.
“He kept on calling me ‘fixer fixer, you are a fixer, **** off you fixer on live television on centre wicket,” Sreesanth said earlier on Thursday 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.
An hour after Sreesanth went live. Gambhir posted on X a picture of himself in the Indian jersey smiling, captioning it “Smile when the world is all about attention!”
During another Instagram live session following the match, Sreesanth referred to Gambhir as “Mr fighter” and criticised him for lacking respect for senior players, mentioning Virender Sehwag as an example.
The fast bowler expressed that he has “lost respect” for the cricketer-turned-politician in the aftermath of the incident.
“You have exceeded the boundaries of a sportsman and a brother, and above all, you represent the people. Yet, you continue to engage in conflicts with every cricketer. What is the matter with you? All I did was smile and observe, and you labeled me a fixer? Seriously? Are you above the Supreme Court? You have no authority to speak in such a manner and say whatever you please,” Sreesanth wrote.
“You even verbally abused the umpires, and yet you speak of smiling? You are an arrogant and utterly classless individual who lacks any form of respect for those who supported you. Until yesterday, I always held respect for you and your family. However, you used the derogatory term “fixer” not just once, but seven or eight times. You even resorted to using the F-word towards the umpires and myself, persistently trying to provoke me.
“Anyone who has experienced what I have endured would never forgive you. Deep down, you know that what you said and did was wrong. Im sure even God wont forgive you. You didn’t even come to the field aftwr that. Come on, God is watching everything,” Sreesanth commented on Gambhir’s post.
The Legends League Cricket, meanwhile, stated that they will conduct an “internal investigation” on th incident, adding if evidence of misconduct is found against any player it would be “dealt with strictly.”
“Legends League Cricket strives to uphold the spirit of cricket and sportsmanship and will conduct an internal investigation on the violation of the code of conduct. Any misconduct that has occurred both on and off the field including on social media platforms will be dealt with strictly,” said Syed Kirmani, head of code of conduct & ethics committee, LLC in a statement.
“The code of conduct has clearly stated that necessary action will be taken against players that bring disrepute to the league, the spirit of the game and the teams that they are representing.
“We make our stand very clear and continue to work towards sharing the game with millions of cricketing lovers across the nation and world,” added the former India wicket-keeping great.
Also Read: Putin credits PM Modi for strong India-Russia ties
