On Saturday, December 9, at Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, Manipal Tigers defeated Urbanrisers Hyderabad by five wickets to win the Legends League Cricket 2023 championship. In addition to the exciting cricket play throughout the competition, headlines were made during the Eliminator game of the cricket event by an altercation between Gautam Gambhir and Sreesanth on the pitch.
Sreesanth said that the former opener for India had labeled him a “fixer,” which had caused him to lose it on the pitch. Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was also captaining the Manipal Tigers, responded to the incident by calling it a “trivial matter,” quoting a well-known line from Shahrukh Khan’s film “Dilwale Duhaniya Le Jayenge.”
Hindustan Times cited Harbhajan as saying, “Bade baad shehro mein chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain (in big cities, small things keep happening).”
When questioned more regarding his notorious “slapgate” incident with Sreesanth during the 2008 IPL, Harbhajan requested to keep it out of the conversation and acknowledged that it was his mistake.
“That was a historical occurrence. Let’s not discuss that. I have no qualms about admitting that I was at fault for what went wrong at the time. I’m not sure what transpired this time (between Gambhir and Sreesanth). It would be best to limit your consumption to the excellent cricket that LLC has provided this year,” he continued.
Sreesanth attacked Gambhir harshly on Instagram.
Notably, Sreesanth called Gambhir “Mr Fighter” in a video that he aired on Instagram Live, continuing to criticize the player after the on-field altercation. However, Gambhir said nothing about it and shared a picture of himself grinning along with the message, “Smile when the world is all about attention!”
In the meantime, LLC is said to have sent Sreesanth a legal notice for breaking the tournament’s code of conduct in the wake of the contentious episode. The former fast bowler from India violated his contract during the competition, and the league’s organizers won’t speak with him until he takes down all of the videos that criticize Gambhir since they are league property.