Sreesanth-Gambhir spat: Legends League Cricket sends notice to Kerala player

Former India pacer S Sreesanth has been served a legal notice by the Legends League Cricket (LLC) commissioner over his rant against Gautam Gambhir, following the on-field altercation between the two players during an Eliminator match between Indian Capitals and Gujarat Giants in the ongoing LCC 2023 tournament.

The Legends League Cricket (LLC) had said on Thursday that they would conduct an internal investigation on the violation of the code of conduct in the incident involving former India teammates Gautam Gambhir and S. Sreesanth.

The legal notice from LCC mentioned that Sreesanth was guilty of breaching his contract while playing in the T20 tournament, according to an India today report.

The report further stated that talks with the pacer will only be initiated once he removes the videos criticising the player within the preview of the league.

What happened?

Gambhir and Sreesanth got into a furious disagreement during the LLC Season 2 Eliminator match between India Capitals and Gujarat Giants at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, and the umpires had to step in to keep things civil.

Sreesanth accused Gambhir for provoking him needlessly after the Capitals won by a score of 12 runs. Sreesanth attacked Gambhir, alleging that he did not show any regard for fellow players, and expressed how offended he was by Gambhir's remarks.

“Just wanted to clear some air on what happened with Mr. Fighter, who always fights with all his colleagues for no reason whatsoever. He doesn’t even respect his own senior players, including Viru bhai and a lot of people. That’s exactly what happened today. Without any provocation, he just kept on calling me, something which is very rude and something which should not have been said by Mr. Gautam Gambhir,” Sreesanth said after the match.

“So, I just want to tell you all that I am not at all at fault. I just wanted to clear the air straight away. Sooner or later you’ll get to know what Gauti has done. The words which he used and the things he said on a cricket field live are not acceptable,” ye added.

However, on Thursday morning, Sreesanth went live on the social media platform Instagram, and accused Gambhir of using the an expletive. The Kerala pacer also said that Gambhir called him a 'fixer', referring to the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.

As it happened, on Thursday morning, Gambhir posted an enigmatic note on social media, perhaps downplaying the issue sparked by Sreesanth. "Smile when the world is all about attention," Gambhir said on social media platform X.

Yesterday, Sreesanth posted a reel alluding to 'false accusations', adding that he would continue to give his 'best without worrying about anything else'.

He posted, "I am just an ordinary individual from Kerala who had the fortune of winning two world cups, thanks to the grace of God. Rest assured, those who spread false news will receive their just consequences."

After Sreesanth took the matter to social media, the LLC issued a statement on the issue and clarified its stand. 

"The incident that has been the talk of 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 & Ethics Committee, LCC said in a statement on Thursday.

"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," it said.

"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," the league added.