It was difficult to think that the Kohli-Gambhir friendship, which began with the latter awarding the former Player of the Match for his maiden international century in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, would take such a turn.
It was not a pretty sight to witness India’s two World Cup-winning players, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, almost fight after an IPL 2023 match. It not only took the lustre off a low-scoring match in an otherwise record-breaking tournament, but it also painted a bleak picture of the two, one that fans are well aware of. What prompted Kohli and Gambhir’s altercation during the Lucknow Super Giants vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore match in Lucknow? To uncover the explanation, one must go deeper and travel far beyond the last meeting between the same two teams on April 10.
However, the seeds of the Gambhir-Kohli feud were sown much earlier. Back in 2013, Gambhir was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders and Kohli was the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the RCB-KKR match at Chinnaswamy Stadium. After Kohli left, Gambhir appeared to say something to him that did not sit well with Virat. He turned around, and the two met for the first time on the cricket pitch. Rajat Bhatia, a former KKR player, had to separate them.
Although, after his retirement, Gambhir stated in an interview with Gaurav Kapoor that he has nothing against Kohli, his celebrations following LSG’s victory over IPL earlier in the tournament told a different story. Kohli, who has seldom spoken publicly against Gambhir, is not going to back down. He unleashed his wrath on LSG, resulting in intense debates with Naveen-ul-Haq and, subsequently, Gambhir.
Both were penalised 100% of their match costs on Tuesday for violating the IPL Code of Conduct.
The brief encounter between Kohli and LSG opener Kyle Mayers appeared to be the catalyst for the post-match brawl.
