Virat Kohli: ‘If you can give it, you gotta take it’

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir needed to be separated by players and support staff after their heated exchange on Monday. The Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Kohli and the Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gambhir were involved in an on-field spat after Match 43 of the Indian Premier League.

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In a post-match video posted by RCB, Kohli said, “If you can give it, you gotta take it, otherwise don’t give it.”

IPL 2023: Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir fined for ugly verbal spat after LSG vs RCB

Watch: Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir in ugly altercation after LSG vs RCB

It comes on the back of Gambhir gesturing the crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to shut up during the reverse fixture between the two teams in April. After the close finish, Gambhir put his finger on the lips and asked the quiet down.

In contrast, Kohli asked the crowd, largely in favour of the visiting RCB, to make more noise as they inched towards victory at the Ekana Stadium. He signalled to the fans to not stay quiet, like Gambhir had asked, but to up the volume level.

“It was a really important win on the road for us. The fact that we got more support than the home crowd (side) is an unbelievable feeling. Tells you all about how we’re liked as a team and how people back us. It is a very sweet win. Feels good for many reasons. But most importantly for the character we showed in defending that total. Everyone had the belief that we can do it and we ended up as the winning side,” Kohli said in a video posted by the franchise.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis said, “That’s the best version of Virat, isn’t it? To be pumped up like that, that’s where he’s at his best. It’s awesome to be a part of it. My job is to keep things calm on the field. We did really well.”

RCB Director of Operations Mike Hesson also referred to the incident in his interview and said the finish of the last meeting had boiled over.

In what was clearly a grudge match, the drama also spilled over to social media. An RCB member retweeted LSG’s tweet from after the last match that said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this how you… PLAY BOLD.” It appeared to be a mockery of RCB’s catchphrase.

Quote tweeting the LSG message, RCB wrote: “Adab se haraye.”

After the 18-run win on Monday, RCB’s official Twitter handle tweeted Kohli’s photo shushing the crowd with the caption: “What goes around comes around.”

Following their altercation, Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 percent of their match fees. LSG seamer Naveen-Ul-Haq, who also exchanged words with Kohli, was fined 50 percent of his fees.

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