Ex-Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli breached unchartered territory, becoming the first batter to score 7,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the weekend. Virat Kohli's milestone came during RCB's clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) when he got 12 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Following the 34-year-old in IPL's top run-scorers list is Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan who has accumulated 6,536 runs in 213 matches. In third place is DC skipper David Warner with 6,189 runs, while Mumbai Indians and Team India captain Rohit Sharma is in the fourth spot with 6,063 runs.

With Virat Kohli accomplishing another massive feat, Twitterati hailed him – while some called him the GOAT, a moniker for the Greatest of All-Time, others labeled him as a “legend”.

 

With Virat Kohli accomplishing another massive feat, Twitterati hailed him – while some called him the GOAT, a moniker for the Greatest of All-Time, others labeled him a “legend”.

Right behind the Delhi-born cricketer in the last are ex-Bangladesh skippers Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim.

In 121 innings, Mushfiqur Rahim has collected 2,989 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, and Mahmudullah has accrued 2,813 runs in 130 knocks at the same ground.

England’s Alex Hales and Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal occupy the fourth and the fifth spots on the list. While the Englishman has made 2,749 runs in 90 innings in the shortest format in Trent Bridge, the Bangladeshi has completed 2,706 runs in Mirpur.

Virat Kohli has remained in the spotlight for his rift with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir and Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq in recent days.

On Saturday, Naveen-ul-Haq took a savage aim at RCB maestro Virat Kohli in a cryptic post on Instagram.

“Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to #With (GOAT emoticon),” Naveen-ul-Haq wrote on the photo and video sharing app.

Minutes later, Gautam Gambhir replied to the post, saying: “Be who you are!! ‘Never Change'.”

Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir's latest swipe at Virat Kohli came five days after their ill-famed confrontation, where the three players nearly came to blows during an RCB vs. LSG encounter in Lucknow.

However, this isn't the first time Naveen-ul-Haq has taken a dig at Virat Kohli.

Previously the Afghan cricketer took a subtle jibe at Virat Kohli after the latter posted a message on social media mocking Naveen-ul-Haq.

“You get what you deserve that’s how it should be and that’s how it goes,” Naveen-ul-Haq said on the Meta-owned platform.

Naveen-ul-Haq’s reaction came in response to Virat Kohli’s criticism of him, claiming that “everything we see is not the truth”.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth,” Virat Kohli wrote on the photo and video-sharing app.

The three cricketers – Kohli, Naveen, and Gambhir – have remained in the spotlight for their heated altercation during an RCB vs. LSG clash at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium earlier this week.

Consequently, Virat Kohli had a go at Amit Mishra, leading to a tense face-off with LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir.

There were multiple fiery exchanges between players of the two sides during the latter stages of the match and after its completion, with Virat Kohli telling the Lucknow team’s members: “If you can give it, you’ve got to take it back as well. Otherwise don’t give it”.

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 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.

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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.

A tense handshake between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli followed before the LSG mentor asked the home crowd to “shut up”.

In another development, a media publication revealed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli’s exact words that sparked his pathetic verbal spat with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir.

As per the report published by the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, the scuffle between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir started with the former’s words infuriating the latter.

“Bloody fuck. I want to give him a sendoff,” Gautam Gambhir heard Virat Kohli saying this before he lost his composure and ran into the RCB superstar to question him for bullying his players.

An eyewitness previously unveiled shocking details of the fight between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir that erupted during a recent Indian Premier League (IPL) game in the Uttar Pradesh capital.

The trigger for the war of words between the two Delhi-born cricketers appeared to be LSG batter Kyle Mayers’ exchange with the RCB superstar. Their exchange was subsequently interrupted by Gautam Gambhir, who pulled Kyle Mayers away from Virat Kohli.

Additionally, Gautam Gambhir’s wild celebrations in RCB’s previous encounter with LSG, resulting in a one-run victory for the KL Rahul-led side, angered Virat Kohli. But this time, Virat Kohli shot back at LSG as he celebrated with aggression after RCB defeated the hosts by 18 runs, successfully defending a below-par total of 126.

“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,” an eyewitness told a local news agency.

“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,” the eyewitness added.