Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) icon Virat Kohli's verbal spat with Afghan and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) cricketer Naveen-ul-Haq spilled over into social media with the ex-India skipper posting a cryptic message on Instagram.
Posting a message on the photo and video-sharing platform, Virat Kohli seemed to have taken inspiration from Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth,” the post on his Instagram handle read.
Virat Kohli's apparent dig at Naveen-ul-Haq came after the two hogged the limelight for a heated confrontation 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 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 own 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.
According to senior journalist Rajat Sharma, Gautam Gambhir is “jealous” of Virat Kohli's growing popularity, and perhaps that's why he reacted the way he did.
“Gambhir has been provoked. After fighting the elections and becoming a Member of the Parliament, Gambhir’s ego has increased even more,” Rajat Sharma said on India TV. “How Virat Kohli’s popularity worries Gambhir was witnessed yet again, clearly on the ground. Kohli is a player who is always aggressive, doesn’t tolerate any nonsense and so he gave Gambhir an apt reply.”
“In all, what Gambhir did is against the sportsman spirit. This behavior is not befitting of a former India player and a current Member of Parliament. Such incidents ruin the reputation of cricket and should not have happened,” the popular television host elaborated.
Meanwhile, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir should have handled the situation better.
“I think the penny will drop in a day or two. And they will realize that this could have been handled a lot better. Both play for the same state and they have played enough cricket. Gautam is a double World Cup winner, and Virat is an icon. Both come from Delhi. I think the best thing would be to sit them both down and put an end to it. Once and for all,” Ravi Shastri said.
“Whoever does it, the sooner the better, because you don't want this to spill off. Carrying on, the next time they meet again there are words exchanged and one thing leads to another. The sooner the better. If I have to do it so be it,” Ravi Shastri explained.
On the other hand, India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar launched a scathing attack on Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, saying he wished such incidents wouldn't happen on the field.
“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 concluded.
Virat Kohli will return to action on Saturday when RCB will face Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital. A win in the match would be crucial for Virat Kohli's side as they occupy the fifth spot in the table, and a victory would move them up to fourth place in the charts.
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