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'Gautam Gambhir jealous, can't digest Virat Kohli's success': Ex-Pakistan opener talks about ugly IPL 2023 spat
Gambhir and Kohli are no strangers to arguing on the pitch (1st having fought during the 2013 IPL).
Karen Noronha
Jun 29, 2023
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli
The heated altercation between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 after the game between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was surely one of the biggest controversies in this year's tournament. Talking about this issue, former Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad said Gambhir is envious of Kohli's success and that the ex-India opener is spreading hate inside the LSG unit.
Gambhir and Kohli, who are no strangers to arguing on the pitch (1st having fought during the 2013 IPL), let their emotions get the better of them after RCB defeated LSG.
The whole issue had begun after a furious argument occurred between Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli, but Gambhir's presence made it quite apparent that he would not tolerate anyone acting inappropriately towards one of his players.
Ahmed Shehzad offered his two cents on the matter and spoke against Gambhir and said that the LSG mentor's actions towards his former India teammate show he is looking for reasons to pick up a fight.
The former opener, who was once deemed Pakistan's version of Kohli due to his somewhat similar resemblance to the Indian superstar, said, "By what I saw, it was really sad. I can understand what happened on the field between that Afghanistan player (Naveen) and Virat Kohli. These things happen, but what you can't understand is why would Gambhir target a player of his own country, who is right now the world's biggest player. The gestures he showed against Kohli were not right. Our perception as viewers have changed as our feelings have gotten hurt. It seemed as if Gambhir tried to create something out of jealousy. IPL has a brand and if any Indian superstar is being said something by someone – in this case Naveen – it means that there is hatred spread inside the dressing room. Only then does a player get the confidence to go and misbehave," Shehzad said on The Nadir Ali podcast.
He even brought out the issue of the spat that took place in IPL 2013. He said, "We have seen in the past as well that Gambhir has had problems with Kohli. I think he is jealous of Kohli and looking for an opportunity to pick up controversy with him. I have never seen anyone misbehave with Kohli. He is a legend of the game and you should respect him. And after that, he is giving excuses. He said that he once shared his Man-of-the-Match award with Kohli. Did Virat ask you to? Or do you think that by giving him your award, you've earned the right to misbehave with Kohli for the rest of your life? It doesn't work that way," Shehzad added.
"I feel he hasn't been able to digest the respect and success Kohli has achieved. What he has achieved at such a young age, Gambhir couldn't achieve in his entire career. If you're really a big player, or big at heart, this shouldn't be your gesture. You should realise your mistake, and apologise to him. I have never seen a staff from the management jump in a tiff between two players."
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