The match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday was not the most thrilling one but it is turning out to be the most talked about encounter of Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Virat Kohli was first at the loogerheads with Naveen-ul-Haq on the field and off it, things got ugly with the former RCB going head to head against LSG mentor and former India teammate Gautam Gambhir.
The two had to be separated by the players of both teams and all the three involved individuals were fined by the match referee later. While Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fee, Naveen-ul-Haq lost half of his match fee as well. While a lot of theories are being drawn about the incident that took place, an eyewitness present in one of the dugouts, has given a low down of events while speaking to PTI.
"You saw on TV that Mayers and Virat were walking side by side for a few metres post match. Mayers asked Kohli why was he constantly abusing them and Virat, in turn, questioned why was he (Mayers) 'staring' at him? Before that (Amit) Mishra had complained to umpire about Virat constantly abusing Naveen (ul-Haq), who is a No. 10 batter. Gautam, sensing that things could turn ugly, pulled Mayers and told him not to have a conversation, when Virat made a comment.
The heated exchange that followed seemed a bit juvenile.
""Gautam asked 'Kya bol raha hain bol' (What were you saying?) and Virat replied, 'Maine aapko kuch bola hi naahin, aap kyon ghus rahein ho' (Why are you coming in between when I haven't told you anything). Gautam responded, 'Tuney agar mere player ko bola hai, matlab tune meri family ko gaali diya hai. (You abused my player and that's like abusing my family) and Virat's reply was, 'Toh aap apne family ko sambhal ke rakhiye'. (Then you take care of your family). Gambhir's final reply before they were separated was, 'Toh ab tu mujhe sikhayega.(So now I have to learn from you," the eyewitness said.
For the unversed, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir had come to blows back in IPL 2013 as well when they were leading RCB and KKR respectively. "It is a bit of a complicated relationship between the two. Gautam is not a bad human being but not the easiest person to handle. He had no business to gesture that finger on lips to the crowd at Chinnaswamy, which swears by Virat's name. Now here, Virat got a chance to show one upmanship, and he did. He knows that Gautam has been a staunch critic of his captaincy and even he won't take a step back," a former India cricketer who shared dressing room with both Kohli and Gambhir said.
(Inputs from PTI)
