Gautam Gambhir has finally opened up on his heated spat with Virat Kohli during the Indian Premier League 2023. The two almost came to blows after the Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match in Lucknow.
Gambhir justified his stance and said he has every right to defend players as a mentor.
Kohli was guilty of sledging Naveen-ul-Haq when the latter came out to bat for LSG. Naveen hit back at the former RCB captain and the two shook hands aggressively after the contest.
The problem again escalated when Gambhir, who was Lucknow’s mentor, entered the scene. Kohli and Gautam don’t like each other since early days and the two were involved in a verbal slugfest when the southpaw was leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Virat was RCB’s skipper in 2013.
The scene was recreated in 2023 but again the two were separated by players.
“Nobody can walk over my players. When the came is going on, I have no right to interfere but If anybody gets into a heated argument with my players after the match, I have every right to defend them,” he told ANI.
Gambhir has left Lucknow-based franchise to return to KKR as a mentor for IPL 2024.