Gautam Gambhir, a former star of the Indian cricket team, and Sreesanth got into a heated confrontation on the pitch on Thursday during the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC) event. During their verbal altercation on the pitch, Sreesanth subsequently stated, Gambhir had called him a "fixer." Gambhir posted an old photo of himself on social media after the incident with the remark, "Smile when the world is all about attention!" Even though several of his former teammates offered him encouragement, Sreesanth responded to the post's comments with his own viewpoint.
"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. 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. I'm sure even God wont forgive you. You didn't even come to the field after that. Come on, God is watching everything," Sreesanth commented on Gambhir's post.
In a statement, LLC mentioned the argument between the two players and stated that they would look into the violation of the code of conduct internally.
"The incident that has been the talk in the cricketing world violates the code of conduct and necessary action will be taken against all that have violated the very clear rules stated by the league's Code of Conduct and Ethics Committee," LLC said in an official statement, NDTV reported.
"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. The code of conduct has clearly states 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," Syed Kirmani, Head of Code of Conduct & Ethics Committee, Legends League Cricket said in an official statement.
"All players contracted in the Legends League Cricket are bound by certain terms related to misconduct and necessary action will be taken as per the codes of conduct laid down by the Code of Conduct & Ethics Committee. We are taking appropriate action against the breach of contract." Raman Raheja, CEO of Legends League Cricket said.
"Unfortunately, this incident that is making the rounds on social media pulls focus if only for a short time away from what has so far been an extremely exciting season so far with national and international legends playing together for their respective teams. Legends League Cricket aims to continue to be focused on the league itself and let the ASCU and Code of Conduct & Ethics Committee handle the internal investigation and subsequent action with respect to the involved individual/s that will be held in violation of the code of conduct for their comments including ones made on social media," LLC further stated in an official release.
Additionally, Sreesanth accused former India opener Gambhir of behaving badly with other players. Notably, Sreesanth participated in the 2013 spot-fixing controversy while he was a player in the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals. Due to their role in the controversy, Delhi Police detained him, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan.
In 2019, the 36-year-old bowler was found guilty by the BCCI after an investigation, and the board banned him from cricket for life. In the Kerala High Court, the cricket player contested the BCCI's ruling, which maintained the life ban. However the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ordered the BCCI to review Sreesanth's appeal within three months.