Two of the finest players in the history of Indian cricket, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli had an infamous clash as Lucknow Super Giants took on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday. After RCB emerged triumphant, Gambhir and Kohli had an ugly spat on the field that also saw the two of them being handed a hefty fine. As reactions continue to come in on the two cricketing stars, former Kolkata Knight Riders batter Manoj Tiwary has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to step in and find out the root cause behind the incident.
In a chat on Cricbuzz, Tiwary highlighted how bad an impression an incident like this leaves on fans, especially youngsters. The cricketer from Bengal doesn't want Gambhir or Kohli to be remembered for their 'aggression' but for what they did for India on the field.
"Don't know if I should say this or not, Ben Stokes would've gotten a lot of hiccups," Tiwary said in a panel discussion with Murali Kartik. "Somewhere, these two have been big stars. In fact, one of them is still a big player in the world."
"BCCI should step in. This is not a pleasant sight, especially when you are an ambassador of the game, you shouldn't do such things. IPL is one of the most popular tournaments in the world, a lot of people watch it, especially youngsters. A lot of young people want to become like Virat Kohli. So, it is important to find the root cause of clashes like these. Healthy competition is good for the sport but not incidents like these," Tiwary added.
With the two league matches between LSG and RCB already over, the two teams won't come up against each other again unless they both qualify for the playoffs.