Another ugly face-off between Kohli & Gambhir during game

Lucknow: Star India batter Virat Kohli and former opener Gautam Gambhir added another chapter to their bitter rivalry as they got involved in an ugly face-off after the Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants here.

Kohli, one of RCB’s batting mainstays, and Gambhir, the LSG mentor, were seen having a heated argument after the Bengaluru-based side won the match by 18 runs on Monday night.

Both were on Tuesday fined 100 per cent of their match fees for breaching Article 2.21 of IPL code of conduct, which relates to public acts of misconduct, unruly public behaviour and inappropriate comments detrimental to the interest of the game.

Kohli seemed to be referring to the spat with his former India and Delhi state team-mate when he said “you got to take it, otherwise don’t give it”, after the match.

“That’s a sweet win boys. A sweet win. Let’s go. If you can give it, you got to take it. Otherwise don’t give it,” Kohli said in a video published by his team on YouTube, where he was seen celebrating with the rest of the RCB players.

The trigger was probably the interaction between Kohli, who seemed animated throughout the fielding innings of RCB, and LSG opener Kyle Mayers.

While the players were shaking hands after the match, LSG bowler Naveen-ul-Haq -- who was also fined 50 per cent of his match fee -- and Kohli were seen exchanging words and RCB’s Glenn Mexwell separated them.

This was followed by Gambhir pulling away Mayers while the latter was speaking with Kohli. Just after that, Gambhir was seen charging towards Kohli even as LSG players, including the injured captain KL Rahul, tried to restrain him. Eventually, Kohli and Gambhir got involved in a heated argument with players from both sides surrounding them.

Gambhir looked the more animated of the two and was repeatedly held back from charging towards Kohli by the LSG players and support staff. This was after the two had shaken hands.

Initially, Kohli was seen holding Gambhir’s shoulder, but as the exchange continued, veteran spinner Amit Mishra, RCB captain Faf du Plessis and LSG assistant coach Vijay Dahiya stepped in to separate the duo.