A new low for Indian cricket as Gambhir – Tiwary blame each other for the altercation

A day after the ugly spat between Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary, both the players came out with their own versions of the incident, blaming each other for whatever happened.

On Saturday, October 24, during a Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and West Bengal at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir had got into an ugly altercation with his opposition number Manoj Tiwary and the two exchanged few heated words. PTI had reported the situation was so bad that the umpire K Srinath had to intervene, but the temperamental Gambhir even pushed him, inviting a possible ban since touching the umpire in such manner is an offence. Twitter reactions: Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary get into a heated verbal exchange

A day later, both the players, who have played together for India as well as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), came out with their own versions of the incident, blaming each other for whatever happened. Gambhir’s official statement on the matter, which was shared by ESPNCricinfo’s Senior Editor Gaurav Kalra through his Facebook page, read as follows:

“I was most surprised that certain sections of the media have reported that I pushed an on-field umpire during 3rd day’s play of Delhi-Bengal Ranji trophy game. It’s factually incorrect. Here is what happened. Manoj Tiwary walked into bat with Bengal score reading 2 for 2 wickets down. After conceding first innings lead we were keen to press home the advantage by playing positive cricket. The match was extremely well poised and we got fielders around Manoj trying to pressurise him. At which point he started taking longer than usual to face the next ball. My team-mates urged Manoj to refrain from wasting time. Instead of getting on with his batting he started abusing some of Delhi players. At which point I came in and told him what I thought about his demeanour and there was a verbal exchange. The umpires did a wonderful job of calming the situation by intervening right there. And the matter ended.

At no point did I threaten or pushed any on-field umpires. Nor did I threaten to beat Manoj up. Infact, I attended match referee’s hearing post the day’s play where he accepted that he doesn’t have any video evidence of me pushing the umpire. On the contrary the match referee conceded he had video evidence where Manoj is seen pushing Pradeep Sangwan. I am not complaining here but stating what the honourable match referee told me. 

Then, there are parts of the news story which claim to be quoting my verbal exchange with Manoj. May I humbly add here that the comments attributed to me are incorrect. And how a reporter who is sitting beyond the 60-yard boundary line quote something which is happening near the pitch?

I am a proud cricketer who is trying to win Ranji Trophy for my state. For me it is a game of cricket where both teams are fired up to win and may the best team win.”

However, Tiwary’s version was different than that of Gambhir’s. He maintained, “I did not do anything. Everything is recorded. I was quiet, and went out to bat. He (Gambhir) is a senior and as a youngster I have a lot of respect for what he has done for the country, and I always give that respect. But I don’t like when someone says something that crosses the line.”

The Bengal skipper said he spoke to Sourav Ganguly after the ugly spat. It is learnt that the former India captain was upset after learning about the developments. “I spoke to Sourav after the incident and told him everything. Somewhere, his name was also raised during the incident and he was upset about it. Even I felt bad. I can’t tell you what had transpired, but something was said which hurt both of us,” says Tiwary.

Tiwary had paid a visit to match referee Valmik Buch after the match ended on Sunday. The Bengal captain has been told by Buch not to speak about the incident as the issue has now with the BCCI. Tiwary said sledging is fine but he won’t listen anything against his community. “I was very upset about it because we represent Bengal and we don’t want to listen something which is against our community. Sledging and competitiveness is good but players should know where to hold on and don’t cross the line,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Delhi captain Gambhir again released a statement, dismissing Tiwary’s allegations that he made comments against Ganguly as a “figment of imagination”. “On Sunday, Manoj Tiwary stooped to a new low by claiming that I made some comments against Sourav Ganguly, who is my favourite India captain and one of the best cricketers I have played with, and whom I fondly call Dada. Let me state that these allegations are baseless and this is Tiwary’s way of sensationalising things through his figment of imagination,” Gambhir said in a media statement.

On Ganguly’s name being dragged into the controversy, the Delhi captain said he would never disrespect the great leader. “Dada has taught Indian cricket to play aggressive brand of cricket and modelled the team to win outside India. Personally, I made my India debut under his leadership and can never forget the way he eased me into the team dressing room,” he added.

Whatever the truth may be, but the fact remains that the spirit of the game has been violated. When two senior players, who have represented their country and have even played together, behave in this fashion, a wrong message gets conveyed to the youngsters playing alongside them. The two may have succeeded in their respective careers, but have failed miserably on this front.