Indian national cricket team batsman Virat Kohli has spoken about the current Team India coach Gautam Gambhir’s elbow incident with Shane Watson during the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The premier batsman said that he would not ask about the details of the incident as he knew why it happened.
Both Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have been two of the fiercest players to have played for the Indian national cricket team. Both hail from Delhi and are not afraid to give their best to the opposition players, making sure that they give their best for the country.
Gambhir, in particular, was involved in many heated altercations with opposition players, and one such incident occurred during the Test series against the Australian National Cricket Team. The current Indian head coach was involved in a scuffle with all-rounder Shane Watson.
Gambhir was suspended for one Test match after he elbowed Shane Watson in the chest during the third match of the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Delhi. The incident occurred when the Indian batsman attempted to score the second run quickly after playing the shot.
But Gautam Gambhir’s act was the reaction as first it was Shane Watson who was seen pushing Gambhir with a closed fist during the first over. But after that, both the players were penalised by the ICC. While an Indian player was charged with a level 2 offence, the Australian player was fined 10 per cent of his match fee.
Virat Kohli asked Gautam Gambhir about the incident and he said that he would not ask him about it as he understood why it happened. During the interaction conducted by the BCCI, he asked:
“I’m not going to talk about the elbow because I can understand why the blow happened.”
Many people say that I elbowed him, but I didn’t do it on purpose – Gautam Gambhir on his elbow incident
In 2020, Gautam Gambhir spoke about the incident that occurred with Shane Watson. He said that it was not intentional and revealed how head coach Gary Kirsten urged him to accept his mistake in front of match referee Chris Broad, who suspended him for one game. Speaking to Star Sports, he had said:
“Shane Watson! And the reason is that I didn’t do it intentionally. I got banned after that game. A lot of people say I elbowed him, but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“When I was going to the hearing for the match, Gary Kirsten told me to accept it as if I were Chris Broad. He will give me more compassion and he will not punish me. I went in with Gary Kirsten and he asked me if I accepted my mistake. I said yes and he told me I was punished.”
Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the head coach of the Indian National Cricket Team after the 2024 T20 World Cup. He began his assignment with the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, where India won the T20I series and lost the ODI series.
Gambhir’s first match with the red ball will begin tomorrow (September 19). India will take on Bangladesh in the two-match Test series. The first match will be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
