February 22, 2025

Kohli & Gambhir: No Love Lost

By Slogger
First publised on 2023-05-02 06:40:31

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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.

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Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli are both senior cricketers, although Gambhir has retired. They are both expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct and set a sterling example for proper behaviour for upcoming players. But both have a history of not having cordial relations and losing their temper on the field, when coming face to face. Ten years ago, in 2013, they had an ugly spat at the Eden Gardens when Gambhir was captaining IPL side KKR and Kohli was the captain of the rival RCB team. Now, on Monday, they had another ugly, on-field spat which threatened to turn physical, after the IPL match where RCB faced LSG (Gambhir is the LSG mentor) and won a low-scoring match by 18 runs.

The match was marred by on-field altercations between several players from both teams, mainly LSG's Afghan player Naveen-ul-Haq. He had a spat with Kolhi during a break and senior Amit Mishra was seen trying to mediate and cool tempers. The spat happened once again during the handshakes after the match when Haq was seen holding on to Kohli's hand tightly and saying something to him. At this point, Gambhir intervened and matters took a turn for the worse. The spat is said to be direct result of the finger-on-the-lips gesture Kohli directed at the Lucknow crowd which in turn was in response to a similar gesture Gambhir made at the Chinnaswamy in Bangalore in the first leg match that LSG had won. BCCI has taken cognizance of the matter and fined Kolhi and Gambhir 100% of their match fees and Haq 50%.

Although IPL is always played in the right spirit and there is camaraderie between players of all teams, such incidents give a bad name to the game. Seniors like Kohli and Gambhir are expected to maintain decorum on the field, both to adhere to the Code of Conduct and be an example to youngsters watching the game. The competitiveness on the field is often a test of character and professionals are not expected to lose their temper and give a bad name to the game.