A low-scoring thriller between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants ended with Faf du Plessis' men securing an 18-run victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Sunday. However, instead of RCB's bowling heroics in the match, what became the central talking point was the clash between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. The two cricketing stalwarts had a heated exchange after the match over certain incidents that took place during the final phase of the match. However, the foundation of the clash seemed to have been laid a few overs earlier.
It was a clash between LSG's Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli that potentially turned out to be the trigger point of the storm. The incident is said to have taken place during the break between the 16th and 17th over, when Kohli had an altercation with Naveen. The clash even prompted LSG's Amit Mishra to try and mediate between the two but ended up having an argument with Kohli, his former India teammate, instead. However, Kohli seemed to have told Mishra to try and put some sense in Naveen's mind instead of his.
Even RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj didn't look happy with Naveen and it was quite evident from his expression.
After the game, Naveen and Virat also exchanged an awkward handshake in which the Afghanistan pacer looked miffed with the RCB batter. A few moments later, LSG skipper KL Rahul also seemed to have tried to calm things down between the two. In another video, Naveen seemed to have refused to talk to Kohli, even as his skipper Rahul insisted.
Later, an altercation between Kohli and Gambhir broke out, with the two cricketing stalwarts arguing over the incidents that transpired on the field in the last few overs. The starting point of the Gambhir-Kohli was probably the chat between Kyle Mayers and Virat Kohli. After that incident, it was tough to stop Gambhir and Kohli. Naveen, Gambhir, and Kohli were all handed hefty fines by the IPL for breaching the Code of Conduct.
While Gambhir and Kohli were given a 100% fine on their respective match fee, Naveen was given a 50% fine.