India batting great Sunil Gavaskar dropped a bombshell over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir's recent face-off in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
After Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were fined 100 percent of their match fees by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) following their ugly verbal spat on Monday, Sunil Gavaskar was left disappointed with the development.
“Lucknow Super Giants’ Mentor Gautam Gambhir has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Mr Gambhir admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” a statement from the Indian cricket board said.
“Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Virat Kohli has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Mr Kohli admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct.”
“Lucknow Super Giants’ Bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Mr Naveen-ul-Haq admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” the official release added.
However, Sunil Gavaskar was unhappy with the BCCI's decision to let off Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir with fines. Instead of deducting their match fees, the 1983 World Cup winner demanded that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir should have been served with a ban as their on-field behavior crossed all the lines of decency. Their behavior was uncalled for and unacceptable, Sunil Gavaskar pointed out.
“Well, I saw the visuals only a while ago, I did not see the match live yesterday. These things never look good. What is a 100 percent match fee? What exactly is a 100 percent match fee? If it is Kohli, who is on maybe Rs 17 crore for RCB, which means Rs 17 crore for a possible 16 matches, including the semi-finals, and finals. So you are talking about a crore of rupees. Is he going to be fined Rs 1 crore and more? Well, that's a very, very stiff fine,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“I don't know what Gambhir's situation is. They should ensure that this is not repeated. You are hoping that this is not repeated because it's such a stiff fine, such a stiff punishment. You want to play it hard, play it competitively. During the time that we played, there was a bit of banter, but there was none of this aggression that we see now. A lot of it has got to do with the fact that everything is on TV too. Because of the fact that you are on TV, you tend to do maybe just that little bit extra,” he added.
Sunil Gavaskar isn't the only cricketer to demand a ban on Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
The legendary Virender Sehwag and his Team India opening mate Aakash Chopra shared similar sentiments to Sunil Gavaskar.
“I switched off the TV once the match got over. I had no idea about what happened after the match. The next day when I woke up, I saw a lot of chaos on social media. What happened wasn’t right. The loser should quietly accept defeat and walk away and the winning team should celebrate. Why did they need to say anything to each other. I always say one thing, that these guys are icons of the country. If they do or say anything, millions of kids follow them and probably think ‘If my icon has done this, I would too’. So if they keep these things in mind, they would limit such incidents,” Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“If the BCCI decides to ban anyone, then maybe such incidents will happen rarely or not take place at all. Such incidents have happened several times in the past so it’s better to do whatever you want to inside the controlled environment of the dressing room. When you’re on the ground, these things don’t look nice. My own kids can lip-read and they very well understand Ben Stokes. So that is when I feel bad. If you’re saying such things, if my kids can read it, others can too and tomorrow they will think that if they (Kohli and Gambhir) can say it, so can I,” Virender Sehwag summed up.
“The story of Kohli and Gambhir is the biggest talking point. The whole story is that when the last match between RCB and LSG happened, Gautam made some gestures at the Chinnaswamy crowd. Where those gestures came from and why they were made is something that you and I will never know. What we can see is that something is happening between them,” Aakash Chopra said.
“When the Bangalore team arrives here in Lucknow, the cameras are on Kohli and he reacts to every wicket and every catch as if it’s a World Cup match against Pakistan. It’s like a grudge match and he’s trying to vent his anger. We see multiple altercations, whether it’s with Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, or Kyle Mayers,” he elaborated.
“It makes for good viewing because people like to watch things like Bigg Boss. But when we deep dive and look at it as an Indian cricket fan, where one is a modern-day great and the other is a multiple-time World Cup winner and member of parliament and they get involved in such an incident, it leaves a sour taste,” Aakash Chopra stated.
Also, Aakash Chopra argued that the ex-RCB skipper was not worthy of being a role model like the legendary MS Dhoni.
“I want to emphasize that the behavior being displayed in front of us is not appropriate for a role model. A role model is someone whom we can aspire to be like and follow in their footsteps. For me, MS Dhoni is the epitome of a role model. When I talk to my kids about role models, I will encourage them to be like Dhoni. That’s all I have to say about this issue,” the former India opener summed up.
The ugly row started during the concluding stages of LSG’s run chase, in the 17th over of their essay, when a charged-up Virat Kohli had a long discussion with the on-field umpires.
A little later, the video of the ugly episode was broadcast on the big screen by Star Sports, the official broadcasters of the premier T20 tournament.
In the footage, Virat Kohli could be seen saying something to Naveen-ul-Haq which resulted in the Afghan player charging towards him. The Delhi-born cricketer, however, was taking none of it as he immediately responded with a tirade of his own before showing his shoe to Naveen-ul-Haq. But it wasn’t exactly clear what the former India captain said.
The nasty scenes during the game didn’t stop there.
After players of the two teams shook hands, Gautam Gambhir charged at Virat Kohli, with the former looking visibly upset with the latter over an issue.
In the viral clip, the RCB superstar argued with the LSG mentor over something before KL Rahul and Vijay Dahiya intervened and separated Gautam Gambhir from Virat Kohli.
For the uninitiated, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli don’t share the best of relationships with each other. The two fought with each during the 2013 IPL when Gautam Gambhir was the skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Since 2013, the relations between the two Delhi-born cricketers have remained frosty.
Last month, when RCB played LSG at their home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Gautam Gambhir broke into wild celebrations after his side overhauled a huge total to beat Virat Kohli’s team in their den.
It was followed by a tense handshake between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli before the LSG mentor took a dig at the home crowd by making a “keep quiet” gesture.
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