"He called me a fixer...": Sreesanth on argument with Gautam Gambhir during LLC match

New Delhi [India], December 7 : Former Indian pacer Sreesanth accused ex-teammate Gautam Gambhir of calling him a "fixer" during a verbal argument that took place in their Legends League Cricket (LLC) match between India Capitals and Gujarat Giants.
On Thursday morning, a video of an argument between these two former Indian players emerged. Gautam, leading India Capitals could be seen in an argument with the former Indian pacer who was playing for Gujarat. Other players and the umpire had to separate the two.
Sreesanth posted a video on Instagram and said, "A lot of people have been asking me what happened. I am not going to spend a lot of PR to spread wrong news. I came live to clear the air. I am just a normal person, God has been kind to me, have fought my battles by myself, with the help of loved ones and your support. On live TV, on the centre wicket, he called me a fixer...fixer...fixer. I did not use any abusive words, just questioned him, "what are you saying". I just laughed sarcastically. He even said the same language to the umpires even though I moved away."
https://www.instagram.com/tv/C0ipAgcRY-S/?igshid=ZWI2YzEzYmMxYg%3D%3D
Sreesanth accused Gambhir of behaving badly with other players as well.
Notably, Sreesanth was involved in the spot-fixing scandal in 2013 when he used to play for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He along with Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police for their involvement in the scandal.
Upon investigation, the 36-year-old bowler was found guilty by the BCCI and the board imposed a life ban on the cricketer.
The cricketer challenged the BCCI's decision in the Kerala High Court which upheld the life ban.
The Supreme Court in March 2019 set aside the life ban imposed on cricketer S Sreesanth by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and asked the cricket body to reconsider his plea within three months.
Following this, Sreesanth's lifetime ban was reduced to seven years by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The ban finally ended on September 13, 2020.
"I am not going to talk about what exactly happened on every channel. They must be having a lot of PR. Whoever wants to know the truth, it is the truth. Do support the real truth. He has been doing it with a lot of people, not just me. I have no idea why he started it. It was the end of the over when they lost a wicket. Now, his people are saying that he said "sixer". But he called me "fixer." This is not the way to talk. I can take this matter further but I am leaving it here only. His people are trying to protect him. Do not fall for paid PR by a powerful person. Please trust me on this, lots of love, Jay hind," he added.
Though Gambhir has not offered any direct, clear-cut clarity on the matter, he did seem to throw shade on the former Indian pacer on social media.
Gambhir posted a cryptic tweet on Thursday. Interestingly, Gambhir's tweet came out just hours later after a video of him emerged on social media in which he was seeing arguing with former Indian pacer Sreesanth in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) match between India Capitals and Gujarat Giants.
"Smile when the world is all about attention!" said the caption of Gambhir's post, in which featured a picture of him smiling.
Following the incident, a video emerged on social media of Sreesanth talking about the incident. He said that the former Indian batter abused him and accused Gambhir of not respecting his senior teammates, like Virender Sehwag, who was also his opening partner for years.
"Thank you for all the love and support. Just wanted to clear the air on what happened with 'Mr Fighter' who always fights with all his colleagues for absolutely no reason. He does not even respect his own senior players including Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) and a lot of people. Even today, without any provocation, he kept calling me something very rude and something he should not have said. I am not at all fault, wanted to clear the air," said Sreesanth in the video.
"What Mr Gauti has done, you will know sooner or later. The words he said on the cricket field are unacceptable. Please do support and me, my state and family have gone through so much and I fought those battles with all your support and now people want to down me for no reason, even when I am giving my best and the team is doing well," continued the former pacer.
Sreesanth also accused Gambhir, who also does commentary during India's matches often, of not speaking about star India batter Virat Kohli when he is asked about him during the broadcasts.
"I will let you all know what he said. What is the point of representing the people if you do not respect your colleagues? Even in live broadcasting, when he is asked about Virat, he never speaks about him, he speaks about something else. I do not want to go further in details. I am hurt, my family is hurt and my dear ones are hurt. The way he said things, I did not use any single bad/abusive word, he just kept on saying words, like he always does," concluded Sreesanth.
Coming to the match, a half-century from Gambhir (51) and knocks from Ben Dunk (30) and Bharat Chipli (35) powered India Capitals to 223/7 in 20 overs. Rajat Bhatia (2/37) was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat. In the chase of 224, Gujarat got big contributions from Chris Gayle (84) and Kevin O'Brian (57), but some great death bowling made sure that Gujarat fell 12 runs short.
India Capitals will now meet Manipal Tigers in the Qualifiers II on December 7, 2023.