How Virat Kohli won IPL match for RCB as revenge against Gautam Gambhir and Nicholas Pooran
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli had a bitter exchange of words after RCB vs LSG match at Lucknow's Ekana stadium. Photo: PTI
Tensions flared up in last night's IPL match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore as RCB defeated LSG by 18 runs. The match had a dramatic end as it witnessed a fierce verbal clash between RCB's Virat Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir.
The spat between the two after the match led to the BCCI both Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli 100 per cent of their match fees. The BCCI also fined Afghanistan’s Naveen ul Haq 50% of his match fee. He too had a tiff with Kohli during the match.
Aggression Vs Supremacy 🫶#viratkholi #GautamGambhir #TATAIPL2023 #KohliGambhir pic.twitter.com/RhfHnD31hl
— B K Prasant (@prasantkumar901) May 2, 2023
What happened?
The incident of last night had its seeds sown during the first match encounter between LSG and RCB in 2023 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. LSG had won that game by one wicket in a last-over thriller.
After defeating Kohli in his own backyard, Gambhir had celebrated in his own style. In a picture, which had gone viral, Gambhir was seen putting his fingers on his lips, asking the crowd to remain silent.
It didn’t end with this. LSG’s Nicholas Pooran had on his Instagram shared the photo of an RCB fan (a girl) crying after her team's loss against LSG.
This had irked the RCB team, especially Virat Kohli. And during yesterday’s match, Kohli got to avenge the taunts RCB had endured against Gambhir's LSG
When LSG’s wickets started to fall in the second innings, Kohli celebrated with great display. Kohli, in fact, showed an aggressive demeanor, right from the start of the second innings. He was seen mimicking Nicholas Pooran by giving flying kisses.
In the 18th over of the second innings, when LSG were down at 103/9, Afghanistan’s Naveen ul Haq had a heated exchange with Kohli.
And just when everyone thought that the fight was over, it escalated further.
The handshake
Naveen ul Haq and Virat Kohli were once again seen having a spat when the two came to shake hands. In the video that has gone viral, Naveen ul Haq and Kohli were seen arguing.
Heated conversation exchange between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir after LSG vs RCB match !!
— Keshav Khurana (@KeshavKhurana13) May 1, 2023
: Royal Challengers Bangalore defended a low total against Lucknow Super Giants in their group stage encounter of the Indian Premier League .@IPL 2023 pic.twitter.com/QBhrMdy86x
What followed this was even worse. LSG’s mentor Gambhir was seen pulling Kyle Mayers when Mayers was talking to Kohli. This led to another round of spat, this time between Gambhir and Kohli.
Kohli vs Gambhir at IPL
If we look at the history of IPL, this is not the first time the two Delhi batters have been involved in a verbal fight. It started from the time when Gambhir was the captain of KKR and Kohli was RCB’s skipper.
Both the players have an aggressive approach when they are on the ground, and their frequent spats have been seen in the past too.
More than a decade back, the two had clashed during a match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The fight was so intense that it required players from both sides to intervene.
A decade later, Gambhir is now the mentor of LSG while Kohli is still with RCB.
Will the two teams face each other again this season?
The two teams have played against each other twice this season and there is no scheduled match between the two.
Another game between RCB and LSG is possible if they make it to the playoffs. Both the teams are doing well and have high chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
While LSG are at third position on the points table with 10 points in nine matches, RCB are also at 10 points but at the fifth position because of a poor net run-rate.