"Losing Team Should Quietly Accept Defeat": Virender Sehwag's Bold Take On Kohli-Gambhir IPL Spat

The drama in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 peaked right after Royal Challengers Bangalore secured a victory over Lucknow Super Giants in a low-scoring thriller. Tempers flared on the field, especially between RCB's Virat Kohli and LSG's Naveen-ul-Haq during the on-field battle but later Gautam Gambhir also found himself embroiled in a verbal altercation. The Kohli vs Gambhir altercation after the match became the central talking point, with the two also being fined heavily by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

Expert opinions on the matter have been coming in ever since the incident took place. Former India opener Virender Sehwag, reacting to the on-filed furor, took an interesting stance on the matter, suggesting the winning team should go out celebrating whereas the losing team should 'quietly accept defeat' and walk away.

"I switched off the TV once the match got over. I had no idea about what happened after the match. The next day when I woke up, I saw a lot of chaos on social media. What happened wasn't right. The loser should quietly accept defeat and walk away and the winning team should go out celebrating. Why do they need to say anything to each other? 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'. So if they keep these things in mind, they would limit such incidents," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

Further during the chat, Sehwag suggested that such iconic players have a huge fan following among fans, including children. Such altercations, hence, don't set the right precedent. The former India cricketer and captain also suggested that a ban from the BCCI could help prevent such incidents in the future.

"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," he added.

Though both Gambhir and Kohli were handed hefty fines by the BCCI, none of them was handed a suspension of any sort by the board.

Topics mentioned in this article

Royal Challengers Bangalore Lucknow Super Giants Virat Kohli Gautam Gambhir Virender Sehwag IPL 2023 Cricket