Former India fast bowler S. Sreesanth has shared fresh details about his heated exchange with current India head coach Gautam Gambhir during a Legends League Cricket match in December 2023. While Sreesanth had previously alleged that Gambhir referred to him as a “fixer,” he has now claimed that the former opener also called him a “Deshdrohi” (traitor).
Speaking in a recent interview, Sreesanth said the confrontation unfolded shortly after he bowled a bouncer to Gambhir during the match. The former pacer elaborated on the incident, alleging that the verbal exchange escalated beyond what had initially been reported.
“Gauti (Gambhir) stepped out on the first ball and flicked it because he knows my (game), he’s a very good cricketer. I don’t know about the coaching part, but he’s a very good cricketer. So, I bowled the bouncer,” Sreesanth said, narrating his experience in an interview on Lallantop.
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“And you know what he said? ‘I own you’. It was clear, he abused me. What he shouldn’t have said, he did, he called me a ‘fixer’,” Sreesanth said.
“I leaned forward and asked him, ‘Gauti bhai, are you okay?’ Because I was huge, it looked like I would hit him. Then he was doing ‘F-F’ (using the F-word). Then he again said ‘fixer’, ‘Deshdrohi’,” Sreesanth further claimed.
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Despite being teammates in India’s triumphant campaigns at the ICC World Twenty20 2007 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, the relationship between Gautam Gambhir and S. Sreesanth appears to have deteriorated since their playing careers ended.
The remarks attributed to Gambhir are believed to be linked to the controversy surrounding Sreesanth’s involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing case. The pacer was initially handed a life ban by the BCCI, but the punishment was later revised to a seven-year suspension, allowing him to return to competitive cricket in 2020.
Gambhir, meanwhile, has since moved into coaching and currently serves as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. During his tenure, India has enjoyed significant success, including title-winning campaigns at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
