As much as he is known for his record with the bat on the cricket field, World Cup-winning star Gautam Gambhir is equally known among the fans for his on-field conducts. From the foul-mouthed heated confrontation with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi to the altercation with his India teammate Virat Kohli during an Indian Premier League game or the war of words with Manoj Tiwary in a Ranji Trophy game, Gambhir never refrained from giving the opposition players a piece of his mind.
But while most of his altercations or sledging is well known, very few know that he even sledged the legendary Shane Warne. Gambhir could not play against the former Australian spinner in international cricket but got the chance to take the field against him during the IPL, and he did not let go the opportunity of sledging the former spinner who himself never shied away from sledging.
The southpaw revealed an interesting anecdote in season 2 of “Breakfast with Champions” when asked about who he enjoyed sledging the most.
“Shane Warne was one,” Gambhir promptly replied. “I never played against him in international cricket but during the IPL, I thought I did sledge him a lot. He gave it back and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
“I still remember telling him next time, he should make sure he should send the text to the right person,” he added.
Through his ‘text’ comment, Gambhir was referring to the incident when Warne had mistakenly sent a text to his ex-wife, Simone Callahan.
“Hey beautiful, I’m just talking to my kids, the back door’s open,” Warne had texted his ex-wife.
Warne was in England while Simone was in Melbourne when he sent the text which had not gone too well with the latter.
“You loser, you sent the message to the wrong person,” she had said at that time.
“I am absolutely devastated but it was the wake-up call I needed. I’d been very suspicious for some time that he was up to his old tricks,” she had added. “Then I got the text by mistake . . . the leopard doesn’t change his spots.
Later, the former cricketer had claimed that Simone’s claims were incorrect.
“Unfortunately, I find it necessary to release a statement due to Simone’s latest paid factually incorrect interview with New Idea,” Warne had said. “We have been divorced for over a year. Simone and I finally separated nearly two months ago on August 5 when we left Spain and before Simone’s planned departure with the children back to Australia.”