A day after the ugly on-field spat during a Legends League Cricket match, former India fast bowler S Sreesanth has accused Gautam Gambhir of using foul language, revealing the details of their heated exchange in Surat. Sreesanth, in an emotional video, had said on Wednesday that Gambhir was ‘very rude’ during their bust-up and called the former India opener “Mr. Fighter”.
Sreesanth had refrained from revealing more details about the on-field spat, but accused Gambhir of not respecting his colleagues, including the likes of Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli.
However, on Thursday morning, Sreesanth went live on social media platform, Instagram, and accused Gambhir of using the ‘F’ word. The Kerala pacer also said that Gambhir called him ‘fixer’, referring to the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.
Gambhir had taken to social media to share a cryptic note, hinting that he was not paying attention to Sreesanth’s claims.
Notably, Gambhir was leading India Capitals in the Eliminator match of the Legends League Cricket tournament and he was up against Chris Gayle’s Gujarat Giants for whom Sreesanth was playing on Wednesday in Surat.
“I was going to come live and tell you all straight instead of going to each and every news channel. Yesterday, I didn’t tell what he told me. I am not going to spend a lot of PR, unlike a lot of celebrities. I want to clear the air now,” Sreesanth said in a live video.
“He kept on calling me, on live television, on the center pitch… I did not use a single bad word. I kept on saying ‘What are you saying? What are you saying?”. In fact, I kept laughing in a sarcastic way because he kept calling me ‘fixer, fixer’. Forgive my language but he said ‘Fuck off fixer’. This is the language which he used on live TV. In fact, he used the same language when the umpires tried to control him. In fact, I moved way, but he kept repeating the same thing.
“This is to clear the air. This is the real truth,” Sreesanth said.
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Sreesanth also alleged that Gambhir was using his Public Relations agencies to douse the fire. The World Cup-winning former fast bowler alleged that quite a few had defended Gambhir by saying that the India Capitals captain did not say “fixer” but said “sixer”.
“People are saying he said ‘sixer’. No, he didn’t. He said ‘tu fixer hai, tu fixer hai’. This is not the way to talk.
“I am thinking of leaving the issue here. But his people are trying to save him. I am requesting you all to not fall for the extra PR.
“Please trust me on this. Lot of love, Jai Hind!”
Notably, Sreesanth along with two other Rajasthan Royals cricketers were banned by the BCCI for their alleged involvement in a spot-fixing scandal in 2013. After years of legal battle, Sreesanth got a clean chit. In March 15, 2019, the Supreme Court of India set aside the life ban imposed on Sreesanth by the BCCI. The apex court directed the cricketing body to reconsider the punishment within three months, acknowledging that Sreesanth should be given an opportunity to be heard regarding the quantum of the sanction.
