Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were involved in an ugly war of words after Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Virat Kohli was fired up for RCB in a low-scoring match against LSG. He had scored 31 in a strong opening partnership with Faf du Plessis and then took a couple of sharp catches as his side defended a modest 126.
Shortly after the match, Virat Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir were seen in the middle of a heated altercation. The two had to be separated by Amit Mishra, RCB captain Faf du Plessis and LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya.
However, it seems that the argument between Gambhir and Kohli started because of LSG bowler Naveen-Ul-Haq. During the break between the 16th and 17th over, Kohli had an altercation with Naveen. Naveen said somenthing to Kohli which angered the RCB batsman.
The clash even prompted LSG's Amit Mishra to try and mediate between the two but ended up having an argument with Kohli, his former India teammate, instead. However, Kohli seemed to have told Mishra to try and put some sense in Naveen's mind instead of his.
It seemed like the matter had settled down but during the customary handshake between the two teams, Naveen said something to Kohli yet again and the former RCB skipper didn't hold himself back again. Glenn Maxwell asked Naveen to calm down before they went their separate ways. But this was just the start.
Gambhir apparently wasn't happy with how Kohli talked to his team's youngster so he took Kyle Mayers, who was talking to the RCB star, away midway from the discussion the two were having.
After the argument, Kohli was also seen talking to LSG captain KL Rahul, perhaps explaining to him what happened. At this point of time, Rahul asked him to join them but he was seen walking away which also pissed Kohli. However, it all seemed to be fine at the end as Virat Kohli looked calmer.
All the three involved were fined by the match referee after the match. While Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees, Naveen-ul-Haq had to give away his 50% match fees for breaching the IPL code of conduct.
After multiple videos of incidents happened on the field have gone viral and now Virat Kohli's latest Instagram story is hogging the limelight where he seems to be indirectly taking a dig at naysayers giving their opinion on the matter without knowing the truth. The former RCB skipper has posted a quote that reads, "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
This is not the first time that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have faced off in a verbal battle 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.