Gautam Gambhir and Arshdeep Singh (Image credit: Instagram) NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir has strongly defended pacer Arshdeep Singh following his on-field altercation with Daryl Mitchell during the 2026 Men’s World T20 final, saying he would be “absolutely fine” even if the bowler had not apologized after the incident.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The flashpoint came in the 11th over of New Zealand’s innings in the final in Ahmedabad. After Mitchell smashed Arshdeep for two consecutive sixes, the Indian pacer fielded the ball on his follow-up delivery and threw it back to bat, the ball hitting Mitchell in the pads.
Gautam Gambhir reflects on India’s World Cup win and Sanju Samson’s support in the tournament
Although Arshdeep apologized to the New Zealand vice-captain after the match, the International Cricket Council later fined the pacer 15 percent of his match fee for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct. One demerit point was also added to his disciplinary record.Arshdeep was found guilty of breaching Article 2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to throwing the ball at or near a player in an inappropriate or dangerous manner during an international match. The charges were leveled by on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf, along with third umpire Allahuddien Paleker and fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock. Match referee Andy Pycroft imposed the sanction, which Arshdeep accepted, obviating the need for a formal hearing.Gambhir, however, played down the controversy and insisted that the bowler’s reaction was a natural display of competitive spirit.“That’s fine. You’re representing your country. You’ve got to show aggression. There’s nothing wrong with that. No bowler likes to get two sixes. And that’s the type of reaction I want to see from my players. And that there’s nothing wrong with that. Or actually, even if it’s not saying sorry, I was totally fine with it. I was totally fine with it. I said it perfectly well. Yeah, he doesn’t have to.” cricket ground, there are no friends or foes,” Gambhir said in an interview with ANI.He also suggested that such moments are often exaggerated in modern times due to social media scrutiny.“Your job is to represent your country. Your job is to win cricket for your country. And you don’t want to get hit for two sixes. And that was fine. I thought we shouldn’t blow all these things because these things happened earlier. Today, because of social media, things escalate a lot,” he added.The incident occurred in a match that ultimately ended in history for India as the hosts crushed New Zealand by 96 runs to lift their third T20 World Cup title – becoming the first team to defend the trophy and win it on home soil.
