Look back in anger!

Barely has a month gone past this year without having India's former left-handed batter Gautam Gambhir hit the headlines, and not always for the best of reasons.

An ugly, or rather ‘juvenile' bust-up 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 'gentlemen's game' thought it could have been averted.

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The dust of this storm hadn't 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 crowd's repeated chanting of Kohli's name. However, he later clarified that his reaction had nothing to do with chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli', but was a result of certain anti-India slogans raised by ‘2-3 Pakistanis'.

For rather too long, cricket has swaggered along, doing its bit to ensure that its own ambiguous and self-imposed title, that is to say, a ‘gentleman's game', is served well. But it has not always lived up to its billing.

The 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 worse.

On Wednesday, we got a sobering reminder of that.

Gambhir seemed to have found a willing new rival in former India pacer S Sreesanth. Their public face-off 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 shores.

The two World Cup-winning players share reputations as verbally aggressive teammates on-field, naturally, that the duo will perilously come close to crossing the line should come as no surprise.

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The dispute took an unusual turn after Sreesanth posted a video on Instagram that was shot on the sidelines of the post-match presentation ceremony. Although he did not immediately mention what was allegedly told by Gambhir, he divulged more details on Thursday in a second video.

"He 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 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 (sic)," claimed the 40-year-old.

He 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). 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 (sic)."

Gambhir, 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, ‘Smile when the world is all about attention!'

Hours later, Sreesanth launched another scathing attack on Gambhir, this time on the latter's 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 Court?...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," he wrote.

While Sreesanth's 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 Gambhir's antics. Sreesanth's allegations, if proven true, will be the latest referendum on conduct in a sport which, of late, has struggled with its identity.

Gentlemanlike or not, cricket, much like any other sport, has its fair share of ugly moments. Gambhir's angry retort on Wednesday or Sreesanth's self-directed 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 avert.

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