In the 43rd match of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Virat Kohli and LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir were involved in a heated verbal fight after the former exchanged verbal jibes with LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq. Five days after the incident, the Afghanistan pacer shared yet another post on Instagram where he seemed to take a jibe at former RCB captain Kohli.
Naveen shared a picture with Gambhir and wrote, "Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to."
Gambhir commented on the post and said, "Be who you are !! ‘Never Change’."
The league took cognizance of the unnecessary escalation and imposed a heavy fine on Kohli and Gambhir. The RCB batter was fined 100% of his match fees and the LSG mentor was also docked for his entire match fees. LSG fast bowler Naveen was also penalised for getting involved in a heated exchange with Kohli during the customary handshake between players after the game. The Afghanistan pacer was fined 50% of his match fees.
The situation started to get out of hand when tension brewed between Kohli and LSG batter Naveen. 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 then exchanged a death stare which was caught on camera.
After the game, Kohli and Naveen 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 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.
In what appeared from the video, Kohli tried to explain Gambhir the whole incident but tension only grew between the two as players of both teams circled around. Amit Mishra jumped in between Kohli and Gambhir while Faf du Plessis pulled his opening partner away.
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