Former India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain, Anil Kumble voiced his displeasure on the wild ending to the game between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and RCB that witnessed an intense verbal spat between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. In the 43rd match of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), RCB exacted their revenge and defeated LSG by 18 runs in a low-scoring encounter at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on May 1 (Monday).
The game will be remembered for the verbal fight between Kohli and Gambhir as the duo indulged in a huge war of words after the conclusion of the match. Kumble chimed in on the incident and affirmed that players need to respect the game and not indulge in unacceptable behaviour.
"Lot of emotion goes in (the game), but you don't want to be displaying those emotions. Yes, you need to have a conversation, but this is something that is unaccepted. No matter what, you have to respect the opposition. You have to respect the game," Kumble was quoted as saying.
"You may disagree on field, you may have a go at the opposition, you may say things on the field in the heat of the moment, but once the game is over, you just need to shake hands and doff your hat. Not to the player but to the game. Because that's something you need to respect… I don't know what was said. Some things may have been personal. That's something you don't want on the cricket field. Both with Virat, Gautam, and whoever was involved, it wasn't the nicest thing to see," he added.
The situation started to get out of hand when tension brewed between Kohli and LSG batter Naveen-ul-Haq. Amit Mishra, who was the other LSG batter tried to calm Kohli down but the RCB leader was having none of it. Kohli and Naveen-il-Haq then exchanged a death stare which was caught on camera.
After the game, Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchanged an extremely cold handshake which involved the pulling of hands and a slight shove by the Afghanistan bowler on Kohli. The two players indulged in an intense heated exchange during the handshake before Glenn Maxwell separated them.
LSG opening batter Kyle Mayers then proceeded to speak with Kohli. The two spoke for five seconds before Gambhir arrived on the scene and pulled Mayers away from Kohli. In the background, Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchanged a few words once again before an angry Gambhir walked towards the former RCB skipper despite KL Rahul and other players trying to diffuse the tension.
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