Former India batter Gautam Gambhir, who was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning team, has explained his controversial gesture towards a section of the crowd in Asia Cup match in September this year and said that he reacted the way he did due to some fans saying anti-India slogans. However, the cricketer-turned-politician said he should not have made the gesture. In ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Gambhir answered queries on the issue and said everyone reacts differently and has a different mindset and “if someone doesn’t want to listen then you react”.
During the Asia Cup match, Gambhir was seen briefly pointing his middle finger towards fans with some reports claiming that he had done so amid slogans hailing Virat Kohli.
“If I am going there and some fans point out and say ‘Hindustan Murdabad’ and they were told once by the security to not do it…in the heat of the moment, I accept I made a wrong gesture and sometimes when you hear these things you react. Everyone reacts differently; everyone has a different mindset. If someone doesn’t want to listen then you react and I am accepting that I shouldn’t have made that gesture,” Gambhir said.
He also reacted to some media reports after the incident and said his reacting to a particular name were not true.
“Some journalists showed only the reaction….it was also said that it was India-Pakistan match but it wasn’t, there was no clarification. You (a section of the media) showed only one reaction but you didn’t move on from the IPL incident; you want to continue it. It was said that an individual name was being chanted and that is why I reacted that way. People can chant anyone’s name, I don’t care, as I said, I don’t take fights personally. But yeah, when it comes to someone abusing my nation, I have the right to react anyway. I want probably in a more sensible way but things that have been written and spoken were wrong,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir, who is a BJP MP from East Delhi, is a cricket commentator and Kolkata Knight Riders’ team mentor.
He is the only Indian to score a century in five successive Test matches between March 2009 to April 2010.
Gambhir has played 58 Tests for India and scored 4,154 runs at an average of 41.95. He scored nine centuries and 22 fifties in his Test career in 104 innings.
He also won the ICC Test Player of the Year Award in 2009. Between 2008 and 2009 in 13 Tests, he made 1,861 runs at an average of 77.54 in 25 innings, with the best score of 206. He scored seven centuries and equal number of fifties.
In 147 ODI matches, he has scored 5,238 runs at an average of 39.68 with 11 centuries and 34 fifties and best score of 150*. He is the 13th-highest scorer in ODIs for India.
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