Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has called for stricter punishments to ensure that spats like the one between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir don't take place during IPL matches in future.
Gavaskar was left disappointed by the ugly turn of events during the IPL 2023 clash between RCB and LSG at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday (May 1).
Following the game, Kohli and Gambhir had an animated altercation. Before the matter could have gone out of hand, the two stars were separated by the players and support staff members of both teams.
Consequently, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 per cent of their match fees for breaching IPL’s code of conduct.
"Well, I saw the visuals only a while ago, I did not see the match live yesterday. These things never look good. What is a 100 percent match fee? What exactly is a 100 percent match fee? If it is Kohli, who is on maybe Rs 17 crore for RCB, which means Rs 17 crore for a possible 16 matches, including the semi-finals, and finals. So you are talking about a crore of rupees. Is he going to be fined Rs 1 crore and more? Well, that's a very, very stiff fine," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
"I don't know what Gambhir's situation is. They should ensure that this is not repeated. You are hoping that this is not repeated because it's such a stiff fine, such a stiff punishment. You want to play it hard, play it competitively. During the time that we played, there was a bit of banter, but there was none of this aggression that we see now. A lot of it has got to do with the fact that everything is on TV too. Because of the fact that you are on TV, you tend to do maybe just that little bit extra," he added.
Gavaskar also proposed the idea of suspending players who involve in such acts for a couple of matches.
"So, my point, do something which will make sure, these things don't happen again. If it has to happen you know, like it happened with Harbhajan and Sreesanth 10 years ago, then you have to ask them for maybe step aside for a couple of matches. Make sure you do something that ensure that these things don't happen and also something that will hurt the team. That's a stiff one," he remarked.
Meanwhile, LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has been fined 50 percent of his match fees for violating the IPL’s Code of Conduct. Naveen engaged in a war of words with Kohli during the 17th over of LSG’s chase. The on-field aggression then spilled over to the post-match handshakes as Naveen and Kohli had another heated exchange.
