IPL 2016: Gautam Gambhir stirs up yet another controversy
Gautam Gambhir is known for stirring up controversies with his on-field behaviour. The Kolkata Knight Riders captain has not let go of his brash attitude even after so many years of International cricket. After putting up a total of 183 on the board against Royal challengers Bangalore last night, Gambhir would have expected a win, but his spinners let him down and KKR lost the match by 9 wickets at Eden Gardens.
In the 19th over of the match, Virat Kohli hit the ball towards point which went straight to Gambhir. In a fit of rage, Gambhir, who is famous for his aggressive behaviour, took the ball and threw it towards the non-striker's end, where Kohli was standing after having already completed the run.
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The on-field umpire, possibly because of the throw, snatched the ball from bowler Andre Russell’s hand, and this got Gambhir furious which led to an altercation between the officials and the KKR skipper. It is not clear as to what might have irked this kind of behaviour from Gambhir, but he is most likely to be fined again.
Gambhir who is known to be hot-blooded might have been upset with his team’s performance, as the bowlers did not deliver last night in a crucial game for them. The Eden Gardens pitch also was unusually flat and did not favour the KKR spinners.
The 34-year-old was previously involved in another on-field spat with Virat Kohli at the Chinnaswamy stadium in 2013 after the latter was caught on 35 by Eoin Morgan at covers. RCB eventually went on to win that match by 8 wickets.
Also, recently, when KKR played RCB in Bangalore on 2 May, Gambhir was fined 15% of his match fees for kicking a chair in the dug-out in a violent manner after Suryakumar Yadav hit a boundary which took the Knight Riders closer to the target.
According to an IPL media release, "Gautam Gambhir from the Kolkata Knight Riders team was fined 15% of his match fee for breaching the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct during his teams match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 2."
We will have to wait and see what action is taken against the KKR skipper for showing dissent towards the umpires.
Here are some Twitter reactions after the incident: