KKR Says Gambhir's Injury was Sustained Before IPL; Gambhir Says No Question of Hiding

The war over Gautam Gambhir's injury continues to rage on, with sides trading words over the issue and timing of his injury.

gautam gambhir raises his bat for kkr

The Kolkata Knight Riders kept their peace until they lost their cool. That would be the way to describe their reaction following the alluding from some sources within the BCCI suggesting that the Kolkata Knight Riders franchisee was responsible for risking aggravating Gautam Gambhir's shoulder injury, sustained in the previous match, by playing him in the IPL 4 eliminator match against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

While Gautam Gambhir believes he has a plausible reason to explain why he played despite the injury, the Kolkata Knight Riders are also not willing to take the accusations that they forced Gambhir to play in the interests of their commercial venture.

Gautam Gambhir slammed reports that he would play for his club over country interests, a plausible concept given that Gambhir is considered one of the most straightforward, straight talking cricketers in the Indian dressing room.

Although Gambhir has not denied that his shoulder bothered him during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, he continues to tow the line he did a day earlier when he stated that he was not made aware of the extent of his injury by the KKR physio, Andrew Leipus, who instead took the medical report to the BCCI with the interest to dissuade the BCCI from sending Gambhir for the West Indies tour as captain given the gravity of his injury.

Gambhir did not think that the shoulder that bothered him was too worrisome since the pain was not a chronic condition. He did however feel the pain in his shoulder during the final league match of the IPL 4 season when it was suggested that he undergo a medical assessment.

The Kolkata Knight Riders, on their part, were categorical in suggesting that Gambhir has picked up his groin and shoulder injuries before he joined the KKR for the IPL 4 season, playing down the idea that they had somehow forced the player, who incidentally is the most expensive cricketer at the IPL 4 auctions, to play even though he was far from fit.

Ultimately it seems to be coming back onto the BCCI and it will interesting why no assessment was made on Gambhir before picking him as India's captain for the West Indies tour if indeed the injury was something he incurred during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.