Former India fast bowler Sreesanth revealed the details of his heated altercation with current India head coach Gautam Gambhir in 2023.
Former India pacer S Sreesanth has spoken out in further detail of his run-in with current India head coach and former teammate Gautam Gambhir at a Legends League Cricket (LLC) match in December 2023. Earlier, Sreesanth had revealed that Gambhir had called him a “fixer”. However, in a recent interview, Sreesanth has delved further about the altercation, claiming that Gambhir had also labelled him a ‘Deshdrohi’ (traitor; one who betrays their nation). He said that the incident took place after he had bowled a bouncer at Gambhir.
“Gauti (Gambhir) stepped out on the first ball and flicked it because he knows my (game), he’s a very good cricketer. I don’t know about the coaching part, but he’s a very good cricketer. So, I bowled the bouncer,” Sreesanth said, narrating his experience in an interview on Lallantop.
“And you know what he said? ‘I own you’. It was clear, he abused me. What he shouldn’t have said, he did, he called me a ‘fixer’,” Sreesanth said.
“I leaned forward and asked him, ‘Gauti bhai, are you okay?’ Because I was huge, it looked like I would hit him. Then he was doing ‘F-F’ (using the F-word). Then he again said ‘fixer’, ‘Deshdrohi’,” Sreesanth further claimed.
Gambhir and Sreesanth were part of India’s victorious 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup squads. However, their relationship has evidently soured after the end of their playing days.
Gambhir’s comments were seemingly based on the ban that Sreesanth received after being accused of spot-fixing during IPL 2013. Initially a life ban, the BCCI later reduced it to a seven-year ban, meaning Sreesanth could resume playing in 2020.
Meanwhile, Gambhir now finds himself in the head coach hotseat of the senior India men’s cricket team. Under his coaching, India have already lifted the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2026.