"There will be a lot of questions over whose fault it was" - Harbhajan Singh decodes the altercation between Kohli and Gambhir
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh tried to break down the incident that transpired between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir after Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) resounding win over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium on Monday, May 1.
Kohli and Gambhir were spotted exchanging heated words and had to be separated by the RCB and LSG contingent. The pair have been fined heavily for the incident, which also involved LSG bowler Naveen-ul-Haq.
Opining that the former national teammates should settle their differences as soon as possible, Harbhajan said on his YouTube Channel:
There will be a lot of questions over whose fault it was, whether it was Kohli's, Gambhir's or Naveen's. A lot of heated words were exchanged, even while shaking hands you can see that Kohli immediately withdrew his hand."
He continued:
"Virat and Gautam are from the same city, they have even won the World Cup together, so I think that they should spread a lovely message to cricket lovers together."
Harbhajan also feels that the World Cup-winning pair's face-off at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL 2013 severely damaged their relationship. He said:
"If you see the highlights of this match, you'll say that there was more fighting than cricket going on. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli already have their rivalry and differences from before itself. Their relationship was never the same after the incident at the Chinnaswamy Stadium long back."
Kohli and Gambhir exchanged a few words back then as well. Then-Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gambhir delivered a mouthful to the departing Kohli, who resorted back with comments of his own. The pair were separated by KKR's Rajat Bhatia and required the intervention of the match officials as well.
"We were all together in one team, won the World Cup as well" - Harbhajan Singh
Kohli and Gambhir played vital roles as members of the playing XI throughout the 2011 ODI World Cup. The Delhi duo even shared a crucial partnership for the third wicket in the final as well, but their relationship went south following constant on-field altercations in the IPL.
Speaking about the togetherness the World Cup-winning team had, Harbhajan said:
"We were all together in one team, won the World Cup, and those very same players are prepared to fight each other. This shows how serious cricket is going on. RCB had only scored 126 in the first innings, but they bowled really well, they broke the LSG batting backbone in four overs itself."
Who do you think is at fault for the most recent squabble between Kohli and Gambhir? Let us know what you think.