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.
“Gautam asked ‘Kya bol raha hain bol'(What were you saying?) and Virat replied, ‘Maine aapko kuch bola hi naahin, aap kyon ghus rahein ho’ (Why are you coming in between when I haven’t told you anything).”
“Gautam responded, ‘Tuney agar mere player ko bola hai, matlab tune meri family ko gaali diya hai. (You abused my player and that’s like abusing my family) and Virat’s reply was, ‘Toh aap apne family ko sambhal ke rakhiye’. (Then you take care of your family).
“Gambhir’s final reply before they were separated was, ‘Toh ab tu mujhe sikhayega…’ (So now I have to learn from you…).”
A source who witnessed the events in the UP said, “It was expected Kohli would turn up fired up in Lucknow. He was having a go at every LSG player right through the match. Naveen-ul-Haq was also not shying away when Kohli was batting. But things got out of hand during the chase. Kohli was gesturing to the crowd and mimicking Gambhir. And then he said something to Naveen while pointing at his shoe. Naveen was very upset.”
“Mayers wasn’t having a cricketing conversation with Kohli. He just went up to Kohli to ask why he was saying unsavory things for a mere stare from Mayers. Gambhir interjected and told Mayers there was no point of (having) a discussion and that irked Kohli further,” the source added.
“I guess after the last match here at the Chinnaswamy where we lost off the last ball, it always felt like we were desperate to get this one. I guess you probably saw a little bit of that boil over,” said Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket operations.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis defended Virat Kohli: “That’s the best version of Virat, isn’t it? That’s when he’s at his best. It’s awesome to be a part of it. My job is to keep things calm on the field, which I thought we did really well.”
On the other hand, the legendary Virender Sehwag received severe criticism on social media following his controversial remarks against Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir after their infamous verbal spat irked fans.
“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’. 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 told 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 added.
However, Virender Sehwag’s remarks riled Indian cricket admirers, who reminded him that he had no right to speak about behaving in public and on the field when he was promoting a tobacco brand on television.
Some Virat Kohli supporters even labeled him a hypocrite as he had a different set of ideals for himself and others.
They stated that while Virender Sehwag spoke about how a cricketer’s attitude and behavior impact young kids in the country, he was still promoting an unhealthy lifestyle through TV commercials.
Days after his disgusting war of words with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir made headlines across the world, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) talisman Virat Kohli reportedly wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to explain his side of the story.
According to the report, Virat Kohli also highlighted his disappointment with the Indian cricket board for levying a heavy fine on him.
The 34-year-old reportedly pointed out that his conversations with Naveen-ul-Haq or Gautam Gambhir were not harsh, and his altercation with these players shouldn’t have attracted such treatment from the BCCI.
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were fined 100 percent of their match fees by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for their highly publicized war of words.
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