Watch: Stump-mic captures explosive Sreesanth asking 'how can he say fixer?' during bitter on-field clash with Gambhir

Controversy erupted during the Legends Cricket League on Wednesday when former India stars Gautam Gambhir and Sreesanth engaged in a bitter exchange during the eliminator match in Raipur. The incident took place after the sixth over of India Capitals' innings, which was bowled by Sreesanth. The former India pacer had conceded 20 off his first two overs and was seemingly going back to his fielding mark, when the altercation between the two began.

After Sreesanth's videos condemning Gambhir for his use of "bad words" in their on-field clash – the 40-year-old former cricketer accused India's ex-opener of branding him a "fixer" – the stump-mic additionally captured Sreesanth confronting Gambhir over the same allegation. As the argument began, other players arrived to separate the two, including Kevin Pietersen, who had joined Gambhir in the previous over following the fall of the first wicket.

Also read: '... all about attention': Gambhir's cryptic post fuels fiery spat with Sreesanth after 'fixer' claim

While Gambhir's remarks in the video remain unclear, Sreesanth could be clearly heard asking, “how can he say fixer?” towards the end of the video.

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Sreesanth, initially handed a life ban by the BCCI for his alleged role in the Indian Premier League 2013 spot-fixing scandal, had the ban reduced to seven years in 2019 by the Supreme Court of India. The Kerala pacer also made a return to the domestic circuit after his ban ended.

"He kept on calling me 'fixer fixer, you are a fixer, **** off you fixer on live television on centre wicket," Sreesanth said earlier on Thursday while going live from his Instagram handle. "I just said 'what are you saying', I kept laughing in a sarcastic way. He spoke to the umpires in the same language when they tried to control him," he added.

An hour after Sreesanth went live. Gambhir posted on X a picture of himself in the Indian jersey smiling, captioning it “Smile when the world is all about attention!”

During another Instagram live session on Wednesday following the match, Sreesanth referred to Gambhir as "Mr fighter" and criticized him for lacking respect for senior players, mentioning Virender Sehwag as an example.