“You had more altercations than I did” – Gautam Gambhir’s funny reply to Virat Kohli regarding sledging
Former India captain Virat Kohli and current national head coach Gautam Gambhir recently got candid with each other in a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, September 18. During the fun conversation, the duo spoke about their similar aggressive game.
Notably, the two Delhi lads were involved in several on-field altercations. The incidents happened in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gambhir said in the video:
“You had more altercations than I did.”
Kohli replied:
"Main to yeh dhundh raha ho koi meri baat se agree kar jaaye. (I was searching for someone to agree with me). Main yeh nahi bol raha ki galat hai. Koi to bole haan yehi hota hai. (I am not saying it’s wrong, at least someone should say that yes, it happens)."
Watch the video below (from 16:47 onwards):
“Sometimes I wanted that confrontation” – Virat Kohli says he loves sledging
Virat Kohli further shared his love for sledging as it brought out the best in him instead of affecting his game.
“Sometimes I wanted that confrontation. I wanted it, honestly. Sometimes, that confrontation can get you in that zone as well. It's come what may. I don't want guys to change me and you don't want guys to change you because tomorrow when you will look back at your career and one would ask you, 'Would you regret anything in your career that you had so many confrontations with the opposition?'" he said in the same video.
"You'd say not at all because ultimately, it's about how you get the results and how you score runs. I don't think ever in my life I've had sledging with the opposition that has probably got me out of that zone. All it has done is probably helped me more," Kohli added.
Virat Kohli will next be seen in action in the first Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh, which starts at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, September 19. The modern-day legend needs 58 more runs to reach the 27,000-run mark in international cricket.