The fiery altercation between Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir has been in the headlines. The spat between Kohli and Gambhir transpired after an Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Lucknow and Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 1.
Former Australia cricketer Shane Watson has now shared his views on the matter. Asked about the incident, on The Grade Cricketer podcast, Watson did not seem quite happy with Gambhir and Kohli’s on-field antics.
Watson said that the players should not take any on-field spat personally and leave it on the ground. Watson, however, acknowledged that “it’s okay to be competitive on the field, where players are supposed to be at their best. It sharpens their instincts and concentrates their minds.”
Shane Watson felt that any sort of confrontation on the ground is understandable as “players are fighting for survival, trying to win and be at their best.”
The former all-rounder said that people should move on after the completion of a game despite how heated the situation was on the pitch. “Once the game’s done, it’s done. So Let’s just move on. Whatever happened between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, no one wants to see that boil over. Gambhir is not even playing,” the 41-year-old added.
Virat Kohli appeared to be at the peak of his aggression during the match against Lucknow. Things got heated up after Bangalore clinched an 18-run victory in the low-scoring clash. Batting first, Bangalore managed to produce only 126 runs in 20 overs. In response, Lucknow’s batting line-up faced a collapse and got bundled out for just 108.
After the game, when the players of both sides were shaking hands with each other, Lucknow’s Naveel ul Haq got involved in a war of words with Virat Kohli. That is when Gautam Gambhir decided to intervene. The World Cup-winning batter was spotted taking away Lucknow all-rounder Kyle Mayers, who was involved in a conversation with Kohli.
Virat Kohli then approached Gambhir and the duo got engaged in an animated exchange of words. Soon after footage of their squabble went viral on social media, fans wasted no time in referring to a similar kind of incident between Kohli and Gambhir in the IPL 2013 season. Gambhir was leading the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise that season. In a match between Kolkata and Bangalore, Gambhir had an ugly confrontation with Kohli.
Comments
0 comment