- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
A major controversy broke out in the arena of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday (1) when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir got involved in an ugly tiff after the game got over at the Ekana Sports Academy in Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The duo clashed on the field after RCB won the low-scoring affair by 18 runs and ended up being handed hefty fines for breaching the tournament’s code of conduct. The altercation between them also saw other players getting involved.
Everything seemed to be going well after the match ended with Kohli and Gambhir shaking hands. Then, Lucknow opening batter Kyle Mayers walked up to Kohli and seemed to have said something. Gambhir then came and took Mayers, who is from the Caribbeans, away. But tempers had started to flare up by then and visuals showed Kohli and Gambhir getting involved in an animated discussion. Lucknow captain KL Rahul, who suffered an injury in the match, also chipped in two separate the two. He had a chat with Kohli later.
The IPL later said in a release that both Gambhir and Kohli, both of whom played alongside each other in the Indian team and were members of the World Cup-winning squad of 2011, were fined 100 per cent of their match fees for breaching the code of conduct. Apart from the two, Lucknow pace bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was also fined 50 per cent of his match fee for breaching the code of conduct.
Gambhir and Kohli have a history of on-field clashes in the IPL. In the past, Gambhir was seen locking horns with Kohli when he was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders.
Lucknow failed to chase a moderate target of 127 in 20 overs and were bowled out for 108 by a spirited Bangalore bowling.
Both Bangalore and Lucknow are at 10 points after nine games after Monday’s match.
