Gambhir and Kohli were both fines 100% of their respective match fees for the ugly interaction.
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL 2023 match which was played on May 1 in Lucknow was an explosive one, however, the explosions came from players without using the bat or the ball.
RCB had batted first and posted 126/9 with Faf du Plessis making 44 and Virat Kohli making 31, while LSG’s Naveen Ul Haq picked three wickets.
In response, LSG batters choked in front of disciplined RCB bowling and could only manage 108 and lost by 18 runs. They were also hampered due to an injury to captain KL Rahul, who came out to bat at no.11.
However, during the match, Virat Kohli and Naveen Ul Haq were involved in an ugly spat which then spilled over in post-match formalities as Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir came face-to-face in an angry outburst, before being separated by other players.
As per a PTI report, an eyewitness who was in one of the team dug-outs spilled the beans on what went down between Kohli and Gambhir.
"You saw on TV that Mayers and Virat were walking side by side for a few meters post-match. Mayers asked Kohli why was he constantly abusing them and Virat, in turn, questioned why was he (Mayers) 'staring' at him. Before that (Amit) Mishra had complained to the umpire about Virat constantly abusing Naveen (ul-Haq), who is a No. 10 batter.
Gautam, sensing that things could turn ugly, pulled Mayers and told him not to have a conversation, when Virat commented. The heated exchange that followed seemed a bit juvenile," he said.
"Gautam asked 'Kya bol raha hain bol'(What were you saying?) and Virat replied, 'Maine aapko kuch bola hi Nahin, aap kyon ghus rahein ho' (Why are you coming in between when I haven't told you anything).
Gautam responded, 'Tuney agar mere player ko bola hai, matlab tune meri family ko gaali diya hai. (You abused my player and that's like abusing my family) and Virat's reply was, 'Toh aap apne family ko sambhal ke rakhiye'. (Then you take care of your family).
"Gambhir's final reply before they were separated was, 'Toh ab tu mujhe sikhayega...' (So now I have to learn from you...),” the eye witness added.
This altercation made fans remember their 2013 IPL spat when Kolkata Knight Riders were playing Royal Challengers Bangalore. Now in 2023, Gambhir remains a firebrand who is a TV pundit and also the mentor of a franchise where he is the remote-control skipper.
Kohli, on the other hand, is pretty much the leader of RCB in spirit, though Faf du Plessis is the official skipper.
"It is a bit of a complicated relationship between the two. Gautam is not a bad human being but not the easiest person to handle. He had no business to gesture that finger on lips to the crowd at Chinnaswamy, which swears by Virat's name.
"Now here, Virat got a chance to show one-upmanship, and he did. He knows that Gautam has been a staunch critic of his captaincy and even he won't take a step back," a former India player, who shared the dressing room with both, said.
Both players have been fined their full match fees although no one knows how a mentor's penalty is computed by the BCCI.
(PTI inputs)