IPL 2023: Kohli, Gambhir in heated exchange after RCB edge LSG

The two have a history of a love-hate relationship and it again came to the fore on Monday night (May 1) in Lucknow. Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir clashed after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 18 runs in a low-scoring IPL 2023 contest.

After RCB had successfully defended 126, both teams’ players were involved in customary handshakes, and as the cameras panned on the cricketers, there seemed to be a heated exchange between Kohli and Gambhir.

Also read: IPL 2023 full schedule, match times, venues

As Kohli and Lucknow team’s mentor Gambhir exchanged a few words, LSG captain KL Rahul, his teammate Amit Mishra and Vijay Dahiya, who is part of the Lucknow support staff, and an umpire intervened as a finger-wagging Kohli walked away.

The clip of the incident was widely shared on social media and fans started to comment. It was not clear what happened.

There was another short video shared on Twitter that showed some words being exchanged between Kohli and LSG paceman Naveen-ul-Haq as they shook hands.

Lol he is showing aggression to the king of cricket 😭😭#RCBVSLSG #ViratKohli𓃵 #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/DF0Empuwi5

— Haider Khan 🇮🇳💚 (@ind_iw0) May 1, 2023

During LSG’s run chase, Kohli egged on the crowd to support RCB and also when a wicket fell, he broke into big celebrations. There was also a moment when Kohli put a finger on his mouth, silencing the LSG fans.

Kohli’s gesture was tit for tat as Gambhir had done the same when LSG had beaten RCB in their away match in Bengaluru, off the last ball on April 10.

There was also another moment when LSB opener Kyle Mayers was talking to Kohli after the match and Gambhir pulled the West Indian away from the conversation.

After the match, Kohli tweeted thanking fans for the massive support.

Amazing win tonight. Love the massive support for us at Lucknow. Thank you to all the fans for supporting us ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lzmWwb34My

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 1, 2023

It may be recalled that Gambhir and Kohli had clashed on the field in IPL 2013 at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium when RCB had faced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Back then, Kohli got out and words were exchanged between him and Gambhir, and KKR’s Rajat Bhatia had to separate the fighting duo.

That was so savage from Gautam Gambhir.
Actually, it was Kohli who did try to do the damage control.
It was Kohli who did try to beef with a senior player like Amit Mishra & a youngster like Naveen Ul-Haq.
But, Kohli’s PR would say otherwise. pic.twitter.com/QzjqmQbguT

— S. (@pullshotx45) May 1, 2023

Kyle Mayers was talking to Virat Kohli – Gautam Gambhir came and took Mayers away. pic.twitter.com/g3ijMkXgzI

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 1, 2023

Heated conversation between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. #LSGvsRCB pic.twitter.com/8EsCPsIMEx

— aqqu who (@aq30__) May 1, 2023

Everything after handshake here:
Gambhir Kohli confrontation pic.twitter.com/9Mbq5tXvQH

— 𝗔𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆𝗮 (@StarkAditya_) May 1, 2023