IPL 2023: Gautam Gambhir's impulsive 'anger' back on show again

There are some things about Gautam Gambhir which will never change – so what if he is now 41, a retired two-time World Cup winner, and a sitting MP? Go back to see his spontaneous reaction where the Lucknow Super Giants mentor gestures at the raucous Chinnaswamy Stadium crowd, asking them to shut up after his team pulled off a thrilling one-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, on Monday.

The screen grab has gone viral – as was Gambhir’s animated celebration when he jumped up at the dugout as KL Rahul’s men finished an epic chase only a day after Rinku Singh’s mindblowing last-over assault for Kolkata Knight Riders in the last over. Gambhir’s shut-up gesture was apparently a snub for a vociferous home crowd and if one knows ‘Gauti,’ it won’t be the last either. ‘’Gautam Gambhir has stolen away all the thunder from Nicholas Pooran after this,’’ tweeted Mudit, a fan.

It was RCB that cut short LSG’s great run on debut in the Eliminator at the Eden Gardens last year, but Gambhir’s reaction was not about a revenge theme only. The classy left-hander has had an implosive personality right from his playing days and is no stranger to on-the-field arguments, with the one between him and Virat Kohli way back in 2013 IPL still not being forgotten by the IPL followers. Only this season, Gambhir’s shocked reaction during their match against Chennai Super Kings when Mahendra Singh Dhoni clobbered his bowlers for two sixes showed how he always wore his heart on his sleeves.

A decade earlier and almost to the day (April 11), Gambhir and Kohli – then respective captains of KKR and RCB respectively and Indian teammates, had a serious verbal spat during their match which needed intervention from other teammates. The fracas took place in the 10th over of the second innings when Kohli was walking back to the pavilion when he got into a banter with Gambhir.

Asked what’s it between the two Delhi stalwarts in a YouTube video years later, Gambhir said it wasn't anything personal. ‘’That's why there was nothing personal (then) and there never will be personal against Virat. I say it again and again that what he's achieved, I am not surprised. That’s the kind of player he was when we saw him early but what he’s transformed into, I think from a fitness point of view and the way he's worked on his skills is tremendous’’, Gambhir said.

Incidentally, Gambhir has also not held back on commenting about sensitive issues like the resumption of India-Pakistan cricket when most of his peers side-stepped the issue by saying that it’s both governments’ prerogative. Speaking ahead of the arch rivals’ clash in 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE, Gambhir had no qualms about saying that if the neighbours don’t engage in bi-lateral cricket, they should stop playing in multi-nation events as well.

Like it or lump it, but the Delhi man is not going to mend his ways in a hurry.