Gautam Gambhir lashes out at journalist over coverage of Virat Kohli spat

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir lashed out at senior journalist Rajat Sharma, who once was the president of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), for his coverage of an apparent spat between him and star batter Virat Kohli.

This came after the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), in which the latter emerged victorious.

The altercation happened at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday after RCB bowled LSG out for 108, scoring 126/9 in 20 overs, with skipper KL Rahul batting through a leg injury in an unsuccessful attempt to take his side to victory.

Kohli had celebrated the fall of the LSG wickets during their innings with his trademark aggression. He was also seen blowing kisses to the crowd. In the previous encounter between the two sides last month, LSG team mentor Gambhir had signalled the RCB home crowd to be quiet after the visitors scraped to a narrow win. Not only did Kohli blow kisses at the Lucknow crowd when their team lost a wicket, but he also emulated Gambhir by pressing his finger to his lips, imitating the latter's gesture for the crowd to keep quiet.

At the conclusion of the match, LSG opener Kyle Mayers walked up to Kohli and started saying something when Gambhir came and took the West Indian away.

Moments after this incident, cameras picked up Gautam Gambhir speaking animatedly with Virat Kohli. Other players, including KL Rahul, and support staff were seen separating the two. Kohli was then seen having a lengthy chat with LSG captain KL Rahul.

After the match ended, Gambhir and Virat shook hands and things looked fine then.

Rajat, in his news programme on India TV, claimed Gambhir had an inflated ego after being elected a Member of Parliament on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. He also said that Virat, whom he called an "aggressive, no-nonsense player" was someone who could "give it back" to Gambhir. The journalist claimed further that Gambhir's actions were against sportsmanship, did not behove his status as an MP and were damaging to the gentleman's game.

Gambhir, in response, sent out a tweet referencing Rajat Sharma's popular show 'Aap ki Adaalat'. "A man who ran away from the job of running Delhi Cricket, citing pressure seems over-eager to sell paid PR as concern for cricket! Yahi kalyug hai jahaan bhagode apni adaalat chalaate hain (It is, perhaps, a testament to the times we are living in that a truant is running his own court)," Gambhir tweeted.

Rajat had resigned as DDCA president in November 2019. He was appointed to the post in July 2018.

In his letter announcing his resignation, Sharma had said, "I take this opportunity to thank you all to have reposed faith in me during my tenure as the President of DDCA. In my short stint, I have made every effort to discharge my obligations in the best interest of the Association with honesty and sincerity. The sole agenda was the welfare of the Association and transparency in each and every aspect."

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