Legends League Cricket to launch inquiry after Gambhir-Sreesanth's ugly on-field spat

Gautam Gambhir & S Sreesanth (Pic: AFP)

The Legends League Cricket will conduct an "internal investigation" after former pacer S Sreesanth on Thursday alleged that ex-India teammate Gautam Gambhir had called him a 'fixer' during a match, and if evidence of misconduct is found against the latter it would be "dealt with strictly".

The two World Cup-winning players were involved in a heated exchange during an Eliminator match between LLC teams Indian Capitals and Gujarat Giants at the Legends League Cricket 2023 on Wednesday. The umpires had to eventually intervene and separate the two players.

"He kept on calling me 'fixer fixer, you are a fixer, '''' off you fixer' on live television on centre wicket," Sreesanth said while going live from his Instagram handle.

"I just said 'what are you saying', I kept laughing in a sarcastic way. He spoke to the umpires in the same language when they tried to control him," he added.

Sreesanth was handed a life ban by the BCCI's disciplinary committee due to his alleged involvement in the IPL 2013 spot fixing scandal. However, the ban was reduced to seven years in 2019 by the Supreme court of India.

"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," said Kirmani in a statement on Thursday.

"The code of conduct has clearly stated 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," added the former India wicket-keeping great.

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Sreesanth, on his part said he didn't utter one foul word, adding that he couldn't understand what was the reason behind Gambhir's alleged outburst.

"From my side, I didn't use any bad word. Please guys support the real truth. He has been doing it with a lot of people. I have no idea why he started it, it was the end of the over.

"Now his people are saying 'sixer, sixer bola hai but unhone bola you fixer, tu fixer hai' (his people are claiming he said sixer, sixer but he said you are a fixer). This is not the way to talk. I'm thinking of leaving it (the incident) here but his people are trying to save him. I request you all to not fall for extra paid PR work," Sreesanth added.

LLC CEO Raman Raheja said, the league will take "appropriate action against the breach of contract".

"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 and Ethics Committee," added Raheja.

LLC called the incident unfortunate and said it has pulled the "focus if only for a short time away from what has so far been an extremely exciting season".

An hour after Sreesanth went live on Thursday, Gambhir, who is a BJP MP from East Delhi, posted on X a picture of himself in the Indian jersey smiling, captioning it, "Smile when the world is all about attention!"

On Wednesday, in another Instagram live video after the game Sreesanth had called Gambhir "Mr fighter", adding that he did not even respect senior players.

"Just wanted to clear the air with what happened with Mr fighter. One who always fights with all his colleagues. For no reason whatsoever. He does not even respect his own senior players, including Viru Bhai (Virender Sehwag)

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"That's exactly what happened today. Without any provocation, he just kept on calling me something which was very rude which shouldn't have been said by Mr Gautam Gambhir," Sreesanth had said.

"I am not at all at fault here. I just wanted to clear the air straight away. What Mr Gauti has done, sooner or later all of you will get to know. The words that he used and the things he said on a cricket field, live, is not acceptable.

"My family, my state, everybody has gone through so much. 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 reiterated.

This is not the first time Gambhir has been involved in an on field altercation. He has had fiery exchanges with Virat Kohli a couple of times during the IPL, including earlier this year when Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Lucknow Super Giants.

(With agency inputs)