Amit Mishra was an eye witness to the controversial IPL 2023 incident where Virat Kohli almost came to blows with Naveen Ul Haq and then Gautam Gambhir during a match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow.
After the game, the two continued to argue, with Gautam Gambhir, the coach of LSG, getting involved as well. A furious fight between Gambhir and Kohli caused their teammates to step in. Amit Mishra, a spinner for Lucknow, has recently disclosed the precise cause of that season's very explosive match.
LSG's veteran spinner Amit Mishra revealed that the story started a few matches before in Bengaluru when Lucknow mentor Gautam Gambhir had done the 'finger on mouth' gesture towards Bengaluru fans.
"It all started in Bengaluru where we (LSG) won the game and Gambhir expressed his aggression. The public was going mad so Gautam gestured them to keep quiet. Probably Virat Kohli didn't like that. We thought the matter ended with the game but not for Kohli," Mishra said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.
Mishra said that when the two sides played again, Kohli was likely not pleased with Gambhir's gesture and began to verbally insult the LSG players. According to Mishra, Virat had the option to escape several situations, but he decided not to.
"He started abusing our players (in the LSG vs RCB rematch in Lucknow). He didn't have any grudges with Kyle Myers but he abused him as well. Naveen-ul-Haq was bowling, he would abuse him too. Bohot cheezein avoid ho sakti thi but Virat Kohli ne nahi ki (a lot of things would have been avoided but Kohli chose not to),” Mishra added.
Kohli even had an altercation with Mishra when he was batting with Naven in the middle. As Mishra tried to calm things down, Virat told him to explain the same to Naveen, not him.
"When I was batting with Naveen, I asked Kohli, 'Who are you even talking to He's just a youngster and not even close to your stature. Whatever happened has happened.' He answered back, saying, "You make him understand that, not me,” he added.
“But the problem began after the game. He (Kohli) started abusing him again during the customary handshakes. That's when Gambhir intervened, questioning why are you starting it again when the game had ended and you guys had won. I moved Gambhir away but Naveen later came to the dressing and said that Kohli started abusing again," he added.
Even though Kohli and Naveen have faced off against one another numerous times since the incident, Mishra believes the Afghanistan pacer would never again respect the Team India batter.
"For social media, it all seemed to be over between them. But do you think Naveen will respect Kohli ever again? What about the youngsters who saw the incident where a big star was abusing others," Mishra wondered.
