Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir were involved in a heated exchange after their IPL 2023 clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Monday (May 1).

Following the game, Gambhir was seen approaching Kohli aggressively with his players and the two had an animated chat. Before the matter could have gone out of hand, the two Delhiites were separated by the players and support staff members of both sides.

The altercation has created quite a stir in the Indian cricket fraternity. Amid the uproar, former India coach Ravi Shastri has said that he is ready to play the role of mediator and calm things down between the star duo.

"I think the penny will drop in a day or two. And they will realise that this could have been handled lot better. Both play for the same state and they have played enough cricket. Gautam is a double World Cup winner, Virat is an icon. Both come from Delhi. I think the best thing would be to sit them both down and put an end to it. Once and for all," Shastri said on Star Sports.

"Whoever does it, the sooner the better, because you don't want this to spill off. Carrying on, the next time they meet again there are words exchanged and one thing leads to another. The sooner the better. If I have to do it (mediate between the two stars), so be it," he added.

Things looked ugly in the middle and Kohli and Gambhir were reprimanded by the match referee after the game. Both of them were fined 100% of their match fees for breaching the IPL’s Code of Conduct.

This is not the first time Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir had a verbal duel on the field. During the 2013 edition of IPL, Gambhir, the then captain of KKR, and Kohli were involved in an ugly spat.