The ugly on-field altercation between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli has grabbed more headlines than their match-winning knocks. Fans and experts still remember how the two Delhi lads got involved in a verbal fight back in 2013 during an IPL match when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) hosted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
However, what triggered that brawl is still unknown. Both Gambhir and Kohli had played down the incident on numerous occasions but the man who separated the duo from clashing recently opened up on the same.
Rajat Bhatia, who got in between Gambhir and Kohli, tried his best to calm things down, recently spoke to Asianet Newsable and said it was nothing more than the two very competitive players acting so weirdly in the heat of the moment.
“That is something which happened when two aggressive captains played, and they always want to give their best and win for their respective teams. Even if they had any kind of collision in that match, it was just a part of the game,” Bhatia, who was a part of team KKR in that game, said.
“Later, I have never seen them (Gambhir and Kohli) fighting. In the heat of the moment, so many things happen. But, it shouldn’t be happening for the worse. And on that day, it was not,” the 40-year-old added.
In that encounter, RCB secured a thumping eight-wicket win over KKR. Chasing 155 to win, the hosts rode on Chris Gayle’s scintillating 85-run knock to reach the target with 15 balls to spare.
Young Kohli scored 35 before being caught by Eoin Morgan off Lakshmipathy Balaji in the 10th over. It was his dismissal that led to the ugly spat as KKR camp celebrated.
