Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants’ Mentor Gautam Gambhir were involved in a war of words during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Monday.
RCB scored 126/9 batting first on a difficult surface and then managed to restrict LSG at 108 to win the match by 18 runs.
The match saw some ugly scenes as Kohli and Gambhir had a heated exchange.
Kohli was seen charged up and animated throughout the match whenever any LSG batter was getting dismissed. It appeared to be a response to Gambhir’s over-the-top celebrations last time when the two teams clashed in Bengaluru.
LSG had chased down a massive total against RCB in the first leg earlier in the season at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Gambhir had gestured towards the Bengaluru crowd with a 'shut up' sign.
Kohli was seen screaming, fist-pumping and even putting a finger on his lips and then asking the crowd not to keep quiet. It seemed to be a reply to Gambhir's gesture.
However, in the 17th over, Kohli had heated exchanges with LSG cricketers Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-Haq, which continued well after the match was finished.
When players of both sides lined up for the customary handshakes, Kohli once again exchanged a few words with Naveen and the Afghanistan pacer was seen brushing off Kohli after an aggressive shake of hands.
LSG opener Kyle Mayers was then seen having a conversation with Kohli when Gambhir came and took the left-hander away. This did not seem to go down too well with Kohli who walked away after a stare.
Gambhir, however, was not done. He was seen hurling a mouthful at Kohli. The former India opener was seen charging towards Kohli multiple times even as his teammates, including captain KL Rahul, tried to calm him down.
The situation turned uglier when Gambhir broke away and came face-to-face with Kohli who too did not back away. The players exchanged some heated words with Kohli seemingly trying to explain to Gambhir what the matter was.
The duo was separated by Amit Mishra and RCB captain Faf du Plessis and LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya.
After the altercation, Kohli was also spotted talking to LSG captain KL Rahul. The LSG captain tried to call his Afghanistan pacer Naveen possibly to end the matter mutually but the right-arm seamer ignored it and walked away. Kohli once again mouthed a few words before continuing his conversation with Rahul.
Following the incident, BCCI initiated strict action against Kohli, Gambhir and Naveen for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct.
Kohli, Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees after they were found guilty of a Level 2 offence while Naveen-ul-Haq lost 50% of his match fees for his Level 1 offence. Gambhir, Kohli and Naveen admitted to their respective offences and accepted the sanctions.
"Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Virat Kohli has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants. Kohli admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct," IPL said in a release late on Monday night.
"Lucknow Super Giants’ bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Naveen-ul-Haq admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct," IPL said.
This is not the first time that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have faced off in a verbal war on the field. Back in 2013, Gautam Gambhir, the then captain of Kolkata Knight Riders and Virat Kohli had made headlines with a tense exchange at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But the two had moved on from those heated moments and a few years later, even shared laughs at a training session for India.