New Delhi, Feb 25: Out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir, who captains his state side Delhi, allegedly threatened former India player and Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) pitch curator Venkat Sundaram after the two were involved in a war of words - reported.
The report in the news daily said that Sundaram has lodged an official complaint against Gambhir after the incident, which took place at Delhi's practice session at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Monday when Sundaram was guiding his staff on "preparing wicket for the upcoming February 27th one-day game".
"I was routinely passing on instructions to my ground staff when suddenly Gautam intervened and asked my staff to not follow any of my orders," Sundaram was quoted as saying by DNA. "He shouted at me ... 'You go and give interviews to newspapers. Don't interfere here' ... I would have forgiven and not reported this incident to DDCA top officials had he not raised his bat at me in anger."
The report also said that a member of the groundstaff confirmed the incident. "Captain asked us not to water the pitch, which Venkatji was asking us to do. A huge quarrel followed between the two in English that I was not able to understand," a groundsman said.
Gambhir, though, denied the reports. "I can categorically tell you that there is no truth in this. Yes, I did meet him on Monday at Kotla but there was no heated argument at all. Being the well-wisher of Delhi cricket, my only suggestion to Venkat Sundaram was to give us a wicket that suits the Delhi team," Gambhir said.
"Yes, we have differences of opinion when it comes to the nature of pitch but to say that I abused him is a piece of fiction. Even some time back he accused me in the media of interfering in his job as a curator. Being the captain of the Delhi team, I have enough things to worry about and Venkat is the last person on my mind," Gambhir added.
Sundaram has reportedly decided to approach the BCCI if no action is taken against Gambhir.
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