Gambhir fined for altercation, denies umpire incident

Gambhir had reportedly pushed on-field umpire K Srinath while trying to engage Tiwary in a fistfight during the incident. The left-handed opener, however, has dismissed reports of any altercation.

“I was most surprised that certain sections of the media have reported that I pushed an on-field umpire during third day’s play of Delhi-Bengal Ranji trophy game. It’s factually incorrect,” Gambhir said in his statement.

“At no point did I threaten or pushed any on-field umpires. Nor did I threaten to beat Manoj up. In fact, I attended the match referee’s hearing post the day’s play where he accepted that he doesn’t have any video evidence of me pushing the umpire,” Gambhir added.

Former Test opener Gambhir had been involved in several on-field skirmishes during his international, Indian Premier League and domestic career. Among them was the infamous elbowing of Shane Watson during his double hundred against Australia at the Kotla in 2008, that saw him banned for the next Test.

The cricketer also shot down reports about the contents of the altercation he had with Tiwary stating, “Then, there are parts of the news story which claim to be quoting my verbal exchange with Manoj. May I humbly add here that the comments attributed to me are incorrect. And how a reporter who is sitting beyond the 60-yard boundary line quote something which is happening near the pitch?."

“I am a proud cricketer who is trying to win Ranji Trophy for my state. For me it is a game of cricket where both teams are fired up to win and may the best team win.”