'Gautam Gambhir played with MS Dhoni's ego, rattled him for years': Irfan Pathan

Gautam Gambhir is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons. His recent altercation with Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 has once again brought back memories of Gambhir's on-field bust-ups with other players during his playing career.

That Gambhir doesn't see eye-to-eye with a few Indian players, including MS Dhoni, is also public knowledge by now but Irfan Pathan recently revealed a secret which not many would have known till now.

The former Rising Pune Supergiant all-rounder recalled the time when Gambhir was captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders and facing MS Dhoni's team in IPL 2016.

'MS was rattled to the core'

Pathan said Gambhir's field placements "rattled Dhoni" and continued to do so for several years to come until the former's retirement from the sport.

"Gautam Gambhir played with the ego of MS Dhoni when he was the captain of KKR. He was the only one who succeeded in rattling him for years," said Pathan, who was teammates with Dhoni at RPS.

"MS was rattled to the core by the field setting," he added while doing commentary in the game between Dhoni's CSK and Lucknow Super Giants, where Gambhir is the team mentor.

Gambhir became a master at field placements against Dhoni in the IPL.

He set up a Test-match like cover near Dhoni and operated with either leg-spinner Piyush Chawla or Sunil Narine and who managed to get him out almost every time he came to bat against KKR.