Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2023 clash in a pretty thrilling match.
However, the game will be remembered not for what transpired in the 40 overs of play, but rather what happened after.
Virat Kohli got into a heated argument with LSG team mentor Gautam Gambhir, and players from either side had to intervene.
This all started when Kohli had a heated exchange of words with Afghan pacer Naveen-ul Haq, and the matter escalated when Gambhir got involved.
After the match, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees, while Naveen was given a 50% fine as a punishment for the incident.
First clash
During a game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in 2013, the first seeds of the rivalry were sown between them, as the two were captains of their respective sides.
After Kohli got out during the game, Gambhir appeared to say something into his India teammate's ears, which did not sit well with Kohli.
He stopped midway and turned around to retaliate back.
The exchange grew even more heated, and their Delhi teammate, Rajat Bhatia who was with KKR at the time, had to step in between to calm the two down.
Three years later
In IPL 2016, the rivalry between the two Delhi cricketers took another turn, when KKR took on RCB.
During the match, Gambhir threw the ball at the non-striker's end, where Kohli was standing even though he had no chance of getting the RCB skipper out.
Gambhir had an altercation with Kohli and the match officials after the game.
Effect on Indian Test side
The rivalry between Kohli and Gambhir also had an effect on the former's career in international cricket, especially in Tests.
Gambhir was already out of contention from the ODI squad thanks to the rise of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
After Kohli became captain of the Indian Test side, Gambhir was completely overlooked from the team, and his declining form was a major reason for that.
Under Kohli's captaincy, Gambhir did make a return in 2016 against New Zealand and England, but he played just 2 Test Matches.
In an interview with Gaurav Kapoor, on his popular show 'Breakfast With Champions', Gautam Gambhir had said that he had no issues with Virat Kohli but the animosity on display during the LSG-RCB game showed that things were still far from over, according to timesnownews.com.
