Gautam Gambhir has been making headlines recently more for his off-field comments than on-field exploits.
Be it his support of LGBT community or backing Indian soldiers fighting on borders, the member of the 2011 World Cup-winning side has been vocal in sharing his thoughts on the social media.
Monday was no different as he came out flaying the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and his most-loved former skipper Sourav Ganguly (president of Cricket Association of Bengal) for allowing match-fixing tainted Mohammad Azharuddin to ring the ceremonial bell at Eden Gardens before the start of T20 international match between India and West Indies.
Azhar played 99 Tests for India, of which he was captain in 47 Tests, scored 6,215 runs at an average of 45.03 before being banned for life by BCCI for his involvement in 1999 match-fixing saga.
Despite being cleared by Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2012, Board had always maintained a zero-tolerance policy towards any former player being caught in match-fixing. The board has, however, not challenged the HC orders.
Though, it was under Anurag Thakur's presidentship in 2016 that Azharuddin was allowed to enter the cricket field, post ban, when he was felicitated along with other former Test skippers at Kanpur to mark India 500th Test match.
The BCCI has neither lifted the life ban on Azharuddin till date nor has it cleared his financial dues.
Gambhir, earlier, openly blocked his own Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) move to appoint another tainted pace bowler as Ranji Trophy coach. Manoj Prabhakar's name was cleared by Virender Sehwag, one of the members of DDCA Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).
DDCA was also forced to replace another tainted player — Ajay Jadeja in 2016 — with Vijay Dahiya after Gambhir made it clear that he won't play if the former remained the coach.
Quits Delhi captaincy
Meanwhile, Gambhir was on Monday replaced by Nitish Rana as Delhi's Ranji Trophy captain as the senior most player in the dressing room decided to "make way for someone younger at the top position".
"Gautam has intimated the state team's chief selector Amit Bhandari that he would like to opt out of captaincy. He suggested that someone younger be groomed for the job. Nitish Rana will lead the side and Dhruv Shorey will be his deputy," read a statement from DDCA.
During the IPL season earlier this year, Gambhir had quit Delhi Daredevil's captaincy during mid-season, owning to slump in form and even dropped himself out of the playing eleven.
The 37-year-old's move has widely been seen as his first step into public life. He is being tipped to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from New Delhi.
However, there is no clarity on whether Gambhir is contemplating retirement from first class cricket so as to devote his time and energy to public life.
