‘If BCCI decides to ban Kohli, Gambhir…’: Sehwag’s stern ‘my kids can lip-read, understand Ben Stokes’ message
Virender Sehwag has called for a much-improved behaviour from Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir after the two former India teammates engaged in an ultra-aggressive spat after the IPL 2023 match featuring Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kohli and Gambhir, who have quite the history between the two launched a no-holds-barred verbal attack on each other, making for a rather unpleasant viewing on national television. Kohli and Gambhir’s infamous brawl emerged as the talking point, and almost 48 hours later, it still is making the headlines.
Sehwag, who with Gambhir formed one of India’s best opening pairs, and played five years of international cricket with Kohli, has reminded both about the stature they hold in Indian cricket, urging both to conduct themselves a lot better. Sehwag called Kohli, Gambhir icons while adding that anything they do or say is watched hawkishly and is likely to be imbibed by the millions of young fans in the country.
“I switched off the TV once the match got over. I had no idea about what happened after the match. The next day when I woke up, I saw a lot of chaos on social media. What happened wasn’t right. The loser should quietly accept defeat and walk away and the winning team should celebrate. Why did they need to say anything to each other. I always say one thing, that these guys are icons of the country. If they do or say anything, millions of kids follow them and probably think ‘If my icon has done this, I would too’. So if they keep these things in mind, they would limit such incidents,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Although the BCCI has slapped both Gambhir and Kohli with 100 per cent fines, Sehwag isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last to propose stricter actions. The former India batter feels that such incidents could become a lot less frequent if the board start and decide to suspend players for crossing the lines. The IPL in particular has a history of such heated altercations – the Kieron Pollard vs Mitchell Starc spat, MS Dhoni entering the field to protest and umpire’s decision, Rishabh Pant doing the same last year and now Kohli-Gambhir reigniting their rivalry – and Sehwag suggests imposing a heavier action might put a leash on such incidents.
“If the BCCI decides to ban anyone, then maybe such incidents will happen rarely or not take place at all. Such incidents have happened several times in the past so it’s better to do whatever you want to inside the controlled environment of the dressing room. When you’re on the ground, these things don’t look nice. My own kids can lip-read and they very well understand Ben Stokes. So that is when I feel bad. If you’re saying such things, if my kids can read it, others can too and tomorrow they will think that if they (Kohli and Gambhir) can say it, so can I,” he added.