Gambhir Jokes About KKR's Fair Play Ranking

Former Indian cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir has expressed his amusement over his team's low ranking in the Fair Play award standings. During an appearance on spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel, Gambhir humorously attributed KKR's poor position to his presence in the dugout.

Known for his aggressive on-field demeanor, Gambhir joked that KKR's low rank was a result of his fiery nature. "Honestly, I thought we would be at the top of the Fair Play Award table because of what happened in Chinnaswamy [the hug between him and Virat Kohli]. There is no competition; irrespective of where we are on the points table, we should be at the top of the fair play award. But still, we are at the bottom," Gambhir said.

Gambhir's comments stem from his on-field hug with Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, with whom he has had several verbal spats throughout his career. The gesture of reconciliation was widely praised as a sign of sportsmanship.

However, Gambhir's humor belies a deeper concern. He questioned the criteria used to determine the Fair Play standings, suggesting that KKR had not engaged in any unsportsmanlike conduct. "Someone sent me a message a couple of days back: 'KKR is where KKR is at the moment.' I said, yeah. In the top, no. In fair play, at number 10 (currently number nine). Is there a trophy? I said, no. And I still do not understand. We played pretty fair. What wrong have we done in the last five games? I do not think so we have done anything wrong. And still, we are number 10. Probably it is just because I am sitting in that dugout," Gambhir said.

KKR is set to face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 1 match at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. The game promises to be a high-scoring affair, with both teams known for their explosive batting line-ups. KKR finished the league stage at the top with nine wins, three losses, and two no results, totaling 20 points. SRH, on the other hand, finished second with eight wins, five losses, and one no result, giving them 17 points.

Tags: #KKR, #GautamGambhir, #FairPlay, #IPL2023, #Cricket