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The infamous incident that witnessed Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir get involved in a heated verbal spat became one of the highlights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. In a match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kohli was involved in a verbal fight with Naveen-ul-Haq before Gambhir, who is LSG's mentor, intervened and the entire incident blew out of proportion.
Reacting to the incident, former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad came to Kohli's defence and launched a scathing attack on Gambhir. Shehzad opined that Gambhir's reaction to Kohli was completely out of 'jealousy' and that he was surprised to see two players of the same country go at each other in such a manner.
"By what I saw, it was really sad. I can understand what happened on the field between that Afghanistan player (Naveen) and Virat Kohli. These things happen, but what you can't understand is why would Gambhir target a player of his own country, who right now the world's biggest player. The gestures he showed against Kohli were not right. Our perception as viewers has changed as our feelings have gotten hurt. It seemed as if Gambhir tried to create something out jealousy. IPL has a brand and if any Indian superstar is being said something by someone – in this case Naveen – it means that there is hatred spread inside the dressing room. Only then does a player get the confidence to go and misbehave," Shehzad said on The Nadir Ali podcast, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Furthermore, in what appeared to be a direct attempt by Shehzad to tarnish Gambhir's career, the former Pakistan batter opined that Gambhir's jealousy is purely out of the fact that he couldn't achieve the same heights as Kohli has done at a young age. Furthermore, Shehzad added that Gambhir owes an apology to Kohli for his gesture while also claiming that the LSG mentor looks for any opportunity to pick up a controversy with ex-RCB skipper.
"We have seen in the past as well that Gambhir has had problems with Kohli. I think he is jealous of Kohli and looks for an opportunity to pick up a controversy with him. I have never seen anyone misbehave with Kohli. He is a legend of the game and you should respect him. And after that, he is giving excuses. He said that he once shared his Man-of-the-Match award with Kohli. Did Virat ask you to? Or do you think that by giving him your award, you've earned the right to misbehave with Kohli for the rest of your life? It doesn't work that way," Shehzad continued
"I feel he hasn't been able to digest the respect and success Kohli has achieved. What he has achieved in such a young age, Gambhir couldn't achieve it his entire career. If you're really a big player, or big at heart, this shouldn't be your gesture. You should realise your mistake, and apologise to him. I have never seen a staff from the management jump in a tiff between two players," he added.
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