Look back in anger!

Barely has a month gone past this year without having Indiarsquos former lefthanded batter Gautam Gambhir hit the headlines and not always for the best of reasonsAn ugly or rather lsquojuvenilersquo bustup after an IPL match between Gambhir and Virat Kohli caused a stir in the cricket fraternity with eyewitnesses recalling the frequent usage of the north Indian profanity which sounds similar to the name of English cricketer Ben Stokes Some played safe by calling it juvenile a few others liked the spice and the idea of their intense aggression while firm believers of the gentlemens game thought it could have been avertedAlso ReadToo many cooks spoil the brothThe dust of this storm hadnt settled and there was another controversy this time during an Asia Cup match between India and Nepal A video of Gambhir went viral on social media where he was seen making an inappropriate gesture towards spectators The former India opener appeared to lose his temper amid the crowds repeated chanting of Kohlis name However he later clarified that his reaction had nothing to do with chants of lsquoKohli Kohlirsquo but was a result of certain antiIndia slogans raised by lsquo23 PakistanisrsquoFor rather too long cricket has swaggered along doing its bit to ensure that its own ambiguous and selfimposed title that is to say a lsquogentlemanrsquos gamersquo is served well But it has not always lived up to its billingThe game of bat and ball likes to put a high premium on the notion of sportsmanlike etiquette but we are greeted with a fleeting glimpse of how under rare circumstances things can quickly change for the worseOn Wednesday we got a sobering reminder of thatGambhir seemed to have found a willing new rival in former India pacer S Sreesanth Their public faceoff during an Eliminator match in the Legends League Cricket 2023 is the latest flashpoint in a litany of clashes involving two most aggressive yesteryear cricketers from the Indian shoresThe two World Cupwinning players share reputations as verbally aggressive teammates onfield naturally that the duo will perilously come close to crossing the line should come as no surpriseAlso ReadAllrsquos well that ends wellThe dispute took an unusual turn after Sreesanth posted a video on Instagram that was shot on the sidelines of the postmatch presentation ceremony Although he did not immediately mention what was allegedly told by Gambhir he divulged more details on Thursday in a second videoView this post on InstagramA post shared by SREE SANTH sreesanthnair36He kept on calling me fixer fixer you are a fixer off you fixer on live television on centre wicket 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 From my side I didnt 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 Im 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 sicrdquo claimed the 40yearoldHe continued 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 Bahi Virender Sehwag Thats exactly what happened today Without any provocation he just kept on calling me something which was very rude which shouldnt have been said by Mr Gautam Gambhir sicrdquoView this post on InstagramA post shared by SREE SANTH sreesanthnair36Gambhir meanwhile did what he is best known for that is to return fire The Kolkata Knight Riders mentor responded humbly but sarcastically without directly addressing Sreesanth by name He posted on X a picture of himself in the Indian jersey smiling captioning it lsquoSmile when the world is all about attentionrsquoSmile when the world is all about attention pictwittercomGCvbl7dpnXmdash Gautam Gambhir GautamGambhir December 7 2023Hours later Sreesanth launched another scathing attack on Gambhir this time on the latterrsquos social media post 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 labelled me a fixer Seriously Are you above the Supreme CourtUntil yesterday I always held respect for you and your family However you used the derogatory term lsquofixerrsquo not just once but seven or eight timesrdquo he wroteWhile Sreesanthrsquos comments do run at the risk of being repetitive to an extent they do strike a sympathetic chord with many cricket followers who have grown tired with Gambhirs antics Sreesanthrsquos allegations if proven true will be the latest referendum on conduct in a sport which of late has struggled with its identityGentlemanlike or not cricket much like any other sport has its fair share of ugly moments Gambhirrsquos angry retort on Wednesday or Sreesanthrsquos selfdirected Instagram post on the day after are not anomalies that went against everything cricket stands for They were the latest in a long line of regrettable incidents that are seemingly hard to avertThe views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the company