Gauti at it again
Mirror Sports Bureau
Threatens to assault Tiwary; Bengal captain retaliates too.
Kotla turned into a heated cauldron yesterday when Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary were involved in an on-field altercation and nearly came to blows during the Ranji match between Delhi and Bengal. Gambhir, known to have a mercurial temper, shared verbals with his Bengal counterpart before the umpire had to step in to defuse the situation. Umpire K Srinath had to come between the two players as Gambhir moved towards Tiwary to hit him. The Bengal skipper too came charging at Gambhir, who did not pay heed to Srinath’s attempts at pacifying him and tried to get him out of the way. Touching an umpire is a grave offence in cricket, which could invite a ban.
Tiwary first took guard and was about to take strike. But he stopped the bowler and signalled at the dressing room to bring his helmet. Delhi players thought that it was a deliberate time wasting tactic.
According to reports, Manan ticked off Manoj and told him to lay off. All of a sudden, Gambhir, at first slip, got into the action and started abusing Tiwary, who retaliated.
The furore started with Gambhir saying: “Shaam ko mil tujhe maroonga (Meet me in the evening, I will hit you). And Tiwary retorted, saying: “Shaam kya abhi bahar chal (Why wait till evening, let’s go out and settle it now”). Srinath then sprinted from the bowler's end. Manoj was then seen shouting at Gambhir, saying: “Did I tell you anything? Why did you have to come in between.”
“I had kept my helmet near the boundary rope since it had become wet. That was about it…everyone saw I was not the first to react. He tried to hit but could not. He pushed the umpire who came in between. It’s there in the video, you all have seen it,” Tiwary said. “I have huge respect for Gambhir for whatever he has done for the country but he crossed the limit with his comments. He made personal comments.”
Gambhir, however, claimed he had not pushed the umpire, nor had he used abusive language against Tiwary. “I was most surprised that certain sections of the media have reported that I pushed an on-field umpire. It’s factually incorrect. Here is what happened. Tiwary walked in with Bengal score reading 2/2.”
“After conceding a first-innings lead, we were keen to press home the advantage by playing positive cricket. We got fielders around Manoj trying to pressurize 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 demeanor,” Gambhir said in a statement.
“At no point did I threaten or push any on-field umpires. Nor did I threaten to beat Manoj up. In fact 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 honorable match referee told me,” he said.
The repercussions
♦ Gambhir could be charged with Level II offence which means he’ll be docked 70 per cent of his match fee
♦ Tiwary could lose 40 per cent of his fee if he’s found guilty of Level I offence
♦ However, Gambhir could also face Level III offence (for physical contact with the umpire) and that could mean a ban. The match referee’s report to the disciplinary committee could determine Gambhir’s fate. The final word on his ugly episode is not out yet
GAMBHIR SCUFFLES
IPL, April 2013
Got into an ugly confrontation with Virat Kohli during the 2013 IPL clash during Knight Riders clash with Royal Challengers (see pic). The two had to be separated by Rajat Bhatia
India-Australia, 2008
Stuck an elbow into Shane Watson's chest while completing a second run en route to his double hundred in a Delhi Test. Watson too had a hand in the spat; he was seen trying to distract Gambhir when the opener was taking his first run
India-Pak Series, 2007
Was fined 65% of his match fee when he barged in to Shahid Afridi while batting in a one-day match in Kanpur. Videos of the two exchanging invectives went viral
Threatens to assault Tiwary; Bengal captain retaliates too.
Kotla turned into a heated cauldron yesterday when Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary were involved in an on-field altercation and nearly came to blows during the Ranji match between Delhi and Bengal. Gambhir, known to have a mercurial temper, shared verbals with his Bengal counterpart before the umpire had to step in to defuse the situation. Umpire K Srinath had to come between the two players as Gambhir moved towards Tiwary to hit him. The Bengal skipper too came charging at Gambhir, who did not pay heed to Srinath’s attempts at pacifying him and tried to get him out of the way. Touching an umpire is a grave offence in cricket, which could invite a ban.
The incident happened in the eighth over when Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee was dismissed by Manan Sharma. Tiwary came in to bat at No. 4 wearing a cap.
Tiwary first took guard and was about to take strike. But he stopped the bowler and signalled at the dressing room to bring his helmet. Delhi players thought that it was a deliberate time wasting tactic.
According to reports, Manan ticked off Manoj and told him to lay off. All of a sudden, Gambhir, at first slip, got into the action and started abusing Tiwary, who retaliated.
The furore started with Gambhir saying: “Shaam ko mil tujhe maroonga (Meet me in the evening, I will hit you). And Tiwary retorted, saying: “Shaam kya abhi bahar chal (Why wait till evening, let’s go out and settle it now”). Srinath then sprinted from the bowler's end. Manoj was then seen shouting at Gambhir, saying: “Did I tell you anything? Why did you have to come in between.”
“I had kept my helmet near the boundary rope since it had become wet. That was about it…everyone saw I was not the first to react. He tried to hit but could not. He pushed the umpire who came in between. It’s there in the video, you all have seen it,” Tiwary said. “I have huge respect for Gambhir for whatever he has done for the country but he crossed the limit with his comments. He made personal comments.”
Gambhir, however, claimed he had not pushed the umpire, nor had he used abusive language against Tiwary. “I was most surprised that certain sections of the media have reported that I pushed an on-field umpire. It’s factually incorrect. Here is what happened. Tiwary walked in with Bengal score reading 2/2.”
“After conceding a first-innings lead, we were keen to press home the advantage by playing positive cricket. We got fielders around Manoj trying to pressurize 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 demeanor,” Gambhir said in a statement.
“At no point did I threaten or push any on-field umpires. Nor did I threaten to beat Manoj up. In fact 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 honorable match referee told me,” he said.
The repercussions
♦ Gambhir could be charged with Level II offence which means he’ll be docked 70 per cent of his match fee
♦ Tiwary could lose 40 per cent of his fee if he’s found guilty of Level I offence
♦ However, Gambhir could also face Level III offence (for physical contact with the umpire) and that could mean a ban. The match referee’s report to the disciplinary committee could determine Gambhir’s fate. The final word on his ugly episode is not out yet
GAMBHIR SCUFFLES
IPL, April 2013
Got into an ugly confrontation with Virat Kohli during the 2013 IPL clash during Knight Riders clash with Royal Challengers (see pic). The two had to be separated by Rajat Bhatia
India-Australia, 2008
Stuck an elbow into Shane Watson's chest while completing a second run en route to his double hundred in a Delhi Test. Watson too had a hand in the spat; he was seen trying to distract Gambhir when the opener was taking his first run
India-Pak Series, 2007
Was fined 65% of his match fee when he barged in to Shahid Afridi while batting in a one-day match in Kanpur. Videos of the two exchanging invectives went viral
