Virat vs Gambhir IPL Fight: How Did Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir Rivalry Begin?

The Indian Premier League has witnessed quite a few ugly altercations and verbal ding-dongs between or amongst players on the field, with the league into its 16th year of existence. Amongst these, a selected few can be replayed in the minds of the fans, considering the intensity with which the the heated moments had transpired.

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was witness to one such ugly fight between Virat Kohli – then RCB skipper, and Gautam Gambhir – then KKR skipper, during the 2013 edition of the league.

The moment had arrived right after KKR fast bowler Laxmipathy Balaji had dismissed Kohli (35), with RCB requiring another 80 runs off 11 Overs during the run chase.

Virat vs Gambhir IPL Fight

Soon after the dismissal the KKR fielders, including Gambhir, swarmed around a pumped-up Balaji to celebrate the big wicket.

It was just before this very moment that Kohli became red-hot furious, perhaps as a reaction to some comment or two from Gambhir’s end as the former was heading his way back towards the dug-out.

Kohli then charged towards Gambhir, had some ugly exchange of words with him, but fortunately for everyone there on the field and for the larger good of the tournament, a couple of KKR players and the umpire quickly intervened a and managed to calm things down between the two. Kohli, however, was seen swearing right till the end he made it through towards the dug out.

Rajat Bhatia, who was one of the players successfully intervening right in time to stop the fight, later opened up on the issue.

“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 later told Asianet Newsable in the year 2020.

Click here, to have a look at the video of the fight between the two.

Kohli-Gambhir engage in a fight yet again in Lucknow during IPL 2023

As if turning the clock back, the duo engaged in a bitter war of words yet again tonight, at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow after RCB defeated LSG by 18 runs in a low-scoring contest.

Kohli’s aggressive, impulsive reactions post the fall of each wicket, including the blow of a flying kiss towards the crowd as an overt reply to LSG mentor Gambhir, were just the tip of the iceberg to what transpired after the end of the match.

The build-up in fact took place earlier, when there were a couple of heated moments between Kohli and a couple of LSG teammates in Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-Haq during the latter’s chase, as the former RCB skipper was visibly more animated than ever on the field.