Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) in the IPL 2023, but the most interesting part of the match came after its completion as Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir almost came to blows in a verbal altercation.
The former RCB captain and current LSG mentor had some choicest words to say to each other before players from both teams separated the two. Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of the match fees by the BCCI following the fight.
This was not the first time that the two had gotten into a verbal spat with each other. The previous time these two came in the IPL 2013 when Gambhir was the captain of the KKR side and Kohli had just become the RCB captain.
It happened in a match in Bengaluru, as the two clashed after Kohli was dismissed in the encounter and the two faced off before Rajat Bhatia and umpires separated them and calmed the two down.
Interestingly an old video has resurfaced in which in an interview with NDTV, Gambhir talked about his spat in 2013 with Kohli and also predicted a future altercation with his Delhi and India teammate.
Gautam Gambhir was asked what is an equation with Kohli was given the tense fights the two have on the field.
"I just want to make one thing clear. When you are playing against the opposition, when you are playing against each other you got to be aggressive for your team. As a leader, if you want your team to be aggressive you got to be aggressive as well. You can only expect your team to play the way you want. There was nothing personal. Even if we had some arguments on the field, we've met very nicely off the field as well. This is what professional people do, this is what professional sportsmen do as well," Gambhir said.
The former India opener and KKR’s two-time IPL-winning captain also said that if he meets Virat Kohli again on the field, he would display the same aggression.
"Tomorrow if I play Virat again, and if I have to be aggressive, I will be aggressive. That's the kind of personality I have, and that's the way I want to play the game as well. We are pretty good friends, we will be pretty good friends as well, but not on the cricket field. Off the field, we can chat about a lot of things and discuss a lot of other matters as well. But on the cricket field it's serious business," he added.
Here is the video:
