Gautam Gambhir shows middle finger to fans chanting 'Dhoni or Kohli?', later clarifies why
Gambhir has a sour history with both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, and had a war of words with the latter in IPL 2023.
Gautam Gambhir, a commentator at the 2023 Asia Cup, showed the middle finger to the crowd after they taunted him with chants.
A viral clip circulating on social media shows the crowd chanting either "Kohli" or "Dhoni", just as an agitated Gambhir Gambhir was making his way back from the ground.
Gambhir has a sour history with both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, and had a war of words with the latter in IPL 2023.
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Over the last decade, the feud between the two has intensified. Gambhir has been accused of being "jealous" of his statemate Kohli's rise.
Gambhir has also been vocal about the media's excess praise of Dhoni's six that had helped India win the World Cup in 2011. Gambhir, who rescued India from 31-2 with a fine 97 in a run chase of 275, did not win the Player of the Match. Dhoni, who walked out at No.5 after India recovered to 114-3, walking away with the honours for his 91 not out.
Gambhir alleges that all the credit for the win has gone to captain Dhoni, while the remaining players continue to jostle for the spotlight.
However, Gambhir has refuted the allegations strongly. He indicated that his strong reaction was due to some people saying unsavoury things about India.
"What is shown on social media has no truth in it because people show whatever they want to show. The truth about the video that went viral is that if you raise anti-India slogans and speak about Kashmir then the person before you will obviously react and not smile and leave. There were two to three Pakistanis there who were speaking anti-India things and things on Kashmir. So, it was my natural reaction. I can't hear anything against my country. So, that was my reaction," Gambhir told news agency ANI.
"Do you expect me to not react if you abuse me or my country? I am not that type of person. My only message to those people are when you come to watch a match, enjoy the match and not give political statement. No need to say something wrong about India."
