Gautam Gambhir clarifies situation regarding reported rant against Delhi coach

What’s the story?

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir denied reports of a vitriolic verbal assault and dressing room confrontation with Delhi coach KP Bhaskar but admitted question the former Delhi player. Delhi crashed out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and didn’t make it to the last eight of the Ranji Trophy as well.

Speaking about the issue with PTI, Gambhir said he was merely talking about the manner in which the youngsters were treated following a defeat to Himachal Pradesh in the Inter-Zonal T20 tournament.

He said: "If protecting a youngster is a crime, I am guilty. If making 20-22 year olds feel secure in an insecure environment is a crime, then I am guilty. But I could not have let this man (Bhaskar) play with careers of young players like Unmukt Chand and Nitish Rana. Dressing room is a private environment. It's like a bedroom. There may be many discussions but that's not supposed to be discussed with media. I never spoke what all he (Bhaskar) said after we lost a T20 match in Himachal as to what laurels he had brought to Delhi cricket and where these youngsters are taking it to? Is it how you deal with youngsters?”.

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In case you didn’t know…

After a disappointing domestic season, reports emerged that the former Delhi captain had launched an acerbic verbal assault on Delhi coach at the end of their Vijay Hazare Trophy match on Monday at the KIIT cricket ground in Bhubaneswar.

It was also reported that the ugly confrontation left the Delhi team, led by U-19 star Rishabh Pant in a state of shock and Bhaskar, who is in his first year of coaching the Delhi side rattled after the usage of foul and threatening language by Gambhir.

The Details

Although there were several reports that Gambhir and the Delhi coach had exchanged a heated conversation, there was no proof of what exactly transpired or the reason for the alleged verbal assault.

But Gambhir’s statement that he was merely standing up for the youngsters in the team clarifies the why and also shines a light into what exactly happened in the Delhi dressing room after they crashed out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

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What’s next?

After the reports of Gambhir’s rant, several people were calling for a disciplinary inquiry from the DDCA and the BCCI but in light of what Gambhir has said it will be interesting to see what happens next and what the Delhi coach has to say about the issue as well.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Although Gambhir had been involved in spats with other cricketers, reports that he launched a verbal assault at the Delhi coach, which included foul language and personal abuses was surprising. Now that Gambhir has spoken about what transpired there is more light on what exactly happened in the Delhi dressing room but the full picture will only be known once we hear from all parties concerned, which in this case, is the coach KP Bhaskar.