Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian cricketer, made an obscene gesture to the spectators during the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka.
As per a clip that went viral on social media, Gambhir can be seen raising the middle finger to the crowd as the latter yelled the names of ‘Virat Kohli’ and ‘MS Dhoni’.
The fans were sure that the cries of the aforementioned players irritated Gambhir, causing him to flip the bird as he was being led out of the stadium by officials.
While multiple stories indicated that the contentious gesture occurred during the India-Nepal encounter on Monday, September 4, the event actually occurred on September 2 during the high-voltage clash against arch-rivals Pakistan.
An image circulating on social media implies different, as it shows Gambhir wearing a white shirt during the India-Pakistan match (the same shirt as in the viral movie). During the India-Nepal match, though, the former cricketer donned a black t-shirt.
Gambhir gives clarification after the Asia Cup game
Later, Gambhir clarified that anti-India statements were made, which irritated him and drove him to react the way he did. Gambhir also spoke with the media about the incident and resorted to social media to express his thoughts on the topic.
“‘A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes’. Not everything is as it seems. Any Indian would react how I did to the kind of slogans used against our nation. I love our players & I love my country,”
Gambhir shared on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.
“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 2-3 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,”
He told the media.
Meanwhile, India secured their position in the Super Four stage with a 10-wicket triumph over Nepal in a rain-shortened match.
Following the tie against the Men in Blue, Pakistan became the first team in the Asia Cup 2023 to advance to the knockout stages.
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