Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir, center, congratulates Royal Challengers Bangalore's Virat Kohli ,left, after Kohli's team won the match during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket, in Lucknow. (PTI) Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson has opined his views on the on-field altercation between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) team mentor Gautam Gambhir and Royal Challengers (RCB) batter Virat Kohli. The former Australia cricketer said that being a fierce competitor on the ground is fine but once the match is over, players should keep their differences away from the field and it is best for them to move on.
“Being competitive on the field is great, I’m all for that. That’s where people are at their best… it hones their instincts and focusses their mind,” he said on The Grade Cricketer podcast.
“But when that boils over off the field, that’s when you got to leave it. On the field, you can have a crack because you’re fighting for survival, trying to win and be at your best.
“Once the game’s done, the game’s done. Let’s just move on.
“What happened with Virat and Gautam Gambhir… no one wants to see that boil over. GG’s not even playing!” he added.
An on-field spat triggered a football-style clash between the two teams, and saw angry exchanges between rival players and support staff in Lucknow late on Monday night.
The cast of characters — RCB stand-in skipper Virat Kohli, LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir and Afghanistan international Naveen-ul-Haq — involved in the drama have history too. In the past, the two Delhi cricketers — Kohli and Gambhir — have been involved in at least two on-field altercations. And all-rounder Naveen, a journeyman T20 cricketer in franchise tournaments around the world, once rubbed Shahid Afridi the wrong way.
All three were fined for breaching the IPL’s code of conduct. Kohli and Gambhir lost their entire match fees, Naveen half of it.
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