Former Indian cricketers Gautam Gambhir and S Sreesanth clashed during the Legends League Cricket Eliminator on December 6. The incident, taking place during the match between India Capitals and Gujarat Giants, involved a heated verbal exchange between the two.During the second over, Gambhir scored aggressively against Sreesanth, hitting a six and a four. However, a dot ball later led to a flare-up between the two at the non-striker end.Both Gambhir and Sreesanth were part of India’s victorious campaigns in 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 50 overs World Cup.The altercation escalated to the point where umpires had to intervene. After the match, Sreesanth took to social media, going live to address the incident and provide insights into the exchange. Shockingly, he revealed that Gambhir had resorted to using derogatory language, accusing him of being a “fixer.” Sreesanth had faced a ban for his involvement in spot-fixing during the 2013 IPL season. He emphasized that, despite his past, he would not tolerate disrespect on the field.
Sreesanth further disclosed that Gambhir continued to use foul language even after the umpires intervened, making the exchange more unsavory. The former pacer asserted that he would not allow anyone to tarnish his reputation and that Gambhir’s PR team was attempting to downplay the incident. He explained,” I asked him what are you saying, and i kept laughing in a sarcastic way, and he kept calling me a fixer, fixer, fixer.”Gambhir even used foul language and Sreeanth emphasized on it and said, “he even kept saying F**k off fixer.”Sreesanth also hinted that Gambhir's remarks might be linked to his 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, a challenging period in his career. He emphasised that his family and state had suffered greatly during that time and now felt targeted again for no reason. “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 added. "What's the point of representing people if you don't respect your own colleagues? Even in broadcasting when he is asked about Virat, he never speaks about him. He speaks about something else. I don't want to go further in detail," the former India cricketer said.“ Just want to say I am very hurt and my family is hurt and my dear ones are hurt. And the way he said things… I haven't used a single bad word or a single abuse. He just kept on saying words which he always does," Sreesanth added. Sreesanth was initially banned for life after spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL, however, the ban was reduced to seven years in August 2019. In 2018, he participated in the popular reality show, Bigg Boss and became the runner up. In 2020 he was selected for the Kerala cricket team and resumed his career in national cricket. In March 2022, Sreesanth announced his retirement from domestic cricket.
