The on-field altercation between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir has made more headlines than their match-winning knocks. Fans still remember how the two Delhiites were involved in an ugly spat back in the year 2013 during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
Both Gambhir and Kohli have played down the incident on numerous occasions but the former KKR skipper recently opened up on the verbal spat.
Speaking to Jatin Sapru on his YouTube show 'Over and Out', Gambhir said it was nothing more than two very competitive individuals acting in the heat of the moment and he has no regret about whatever was said during that moment.
"That's OK, I am absolutely fine with it and I expect him to be like that. I am like that. I like that contest, I like people who are competitive. MS Dhoni is a competitor in his own way, Virat is a competitor in his own way. Sometimes when you are leading the side, you have to do it even if you don't want to do it because you want your team to play the way you want. As a leader, sometimes you are not thinking about personal relationships with the other guy [but] just because you are leading a team, you have to do it," he said.
Gambhir then lauded the former RCB captain for his impressive transformation as a batter and athlete.
"That's why there was nothing personal [then] and there never will be personal against Virat Kohli. And I say it again and again that what he's achieved, I am absolutely not surprised. That's the kind of player he was when we saw him early but what he's transformed into, I think from a fitness point of view and the way he's worked on his skills is tremendous."
During the chat, Gautam Gambhir also recalled a heartwarming incident from 2009, involving him and Virat Kohli.
After India’s victory in an ODI against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, the former opener had showed a great gesture as he decided to give the Player of the Match award, given to him, to Kohli.
In that match, both Gambhir (150) and Kohli (114) had slammed centuries in a big run-chase but the southpaw said that first hundreds are the most special, and thus, he handed the award to the latter.
"I didn't do anything I shouldn't have done. You might go on to score 100 international hundreds, which I am sure he will because that's the kind of player he is but you will always remember your first international hundred. I remember my first international hundred that was in Bangladesh and the first ODI hundred against Sri Lanka."
"So I wanted to make it special for him and that's not something I or anyone else shouldn't have done. That's the kind of nature I have and that's the kind of player he was. And what he has done, I am absolutely not surprised with what he's achieved, and he'll go on to achieve many more things," he said.
