Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have been fined 100 percent of their match fees after their heated exchange following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday, May 1 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
“Lucknow Super Giants’ mentor Gautam Gambhir has been fined 100 percent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
“Mr Gambhir admitted ro the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” an IPL media release stated.
“Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Virat Kohli has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
“Mr Kohli admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” the release added.
LSG right arm fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq was also fined 50 percent of his match fees for breaching the IPL’s Code of Conduct. During the customary handshake after the match, Naveen got involved in a controversial moment with Kohli.
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir are not IPL captains anymore, but they were still involved in a heated exchange after Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs. It was over 10 years after their altercation in the IPL during RCB’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru. Kohli now plays for RCB as a specialist batter, and Gambhir is retired and works as the global mentor at LSG.
While the players were shaking hands after the game, there seemed to be words exchanged between LSG bowler Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli. This was followed by Gambhir pulling away his side’s opening batter Kyle Mayers from a chat with Kohli.
Seconds later, Gambhir was seen approaching Kohli aggressively with his players, including the injured captain KL Rahul, restraining him. Once the two got in each other’s faces, Kohli seemed to be trying to pacify Gambhir with his hand on Gambhir’s shoulder, but the chat soon turned hostile and veteran spinner Amit Mishra stepped in between the two to separate them from each other.
