Controversy erupted in the 2023 Indian Premier League earlier this month when Royal Challengers Bangalore star Virat Kohli was involved in an ugly spat with former India teammate Gautam Gambhir, currently the mentor for Lucknow Super Giants. The incident preceded a heated exchange between Kohli and LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq as well, and the latter seemingly continued to aim dig at the RCB batter on Instagram.
A lot of fans and former cricketers have since commented on the incident between Kohli and Gambhir; it wasn’t the first time when the two were at loggerheads in the IPL. During the 2013 edition, Kohli had charged at Gambhir – then captain of Kolkata Knight Riders – and the duo exchanged words after the former was dismissed in a game.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, who formed a lethal leadership duo of Kohli – captain of India from 2017-2022 – stated that on-field confrontations are acceptable as long as players don’t cross the line.
“You need a little bit of confrontation on the field. Where you draw the line, the match referee is there to see the line. When you’re fined, once or twice you will be ok,” Shastri said on ESPNCricinfo.
“A lot of people told me, ‘this is IPL. This is a live telecast. Why were they showing two players fighting?’ Ok, fair point. Because the world saw it. Now, I will tell you the positive in that. By seeing that, both the players will behave differently the next time. Because they will know there is a camera on them all the time. Then they will do the right thing for the massive audience that is watching. Kids, parents, friends. You then know what is the line.
“‘Have I used abusive language? Was my body language not right? Was that in the spirit of the game? Did I come across as a bad loser?’ All these things immediately come to the fore once you watch that footage and then you learn. If you don’t learn then another fine will be around the corner or a suspension,” Shastri explained.
Both, Kohli and Gambhir, were fined 100 percent of their match fees following their confrontation in IPL 2023, while Naveen-ul-Haq was also imposed a 50 percent fine on his fees.
