BCCI punishes Kohli, Gambhir, Naveen for ugly fight, slaps fines worth crores

BCCI took strict action against Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Monday.

Kohli, Gambhir were fined 100% of their match fees after they were found guilty of a Level 2 offence while Naveen-ul-Haq lost 50% of his match fees for his Level 1 offence. Gambhir, Kohli and Naveen admitted to their respective offences and accepted the sanctions.

“Lucknow Super Giants’ Mentor Gautam Gambhir has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gambhir admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct.

“Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Virat Kohli has been fined 100 per cent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants. Kohli admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” IPL said in a release late on Monday night.

Kohli was charged up and extra animated throughout LSG’s chase. It appeared to be a direct response to LSG’s mentor Gambhir’s over-the-top celebrations after they beat RCB in the first leg earlier in the season. The RCB stalwart was seen screaming, fist-pumping and even putting a finger on his lips and then asking the crowd not to keep quiet. It was a reply to Gambhir’s ‘shushing’ gesture after the last-ball thriller in Bangalore.

Things, however, started to get heated in the latter half of the LSG chase. In the 17th over, Kohli had heated exchanges with LSG cricketers Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-Haq, which continued well after the match was finished.

When players of both sides lined up for the customary handshakes, Kohli once again exchanged a few words with Naveen and the Afghanistan pacer was seen brushing off Kohli after an aggressive shake of hands. LSG opener Kyle Mayers was then seen having a conversation with Kohli when Gambhir came and took the left-hander away. This did not seem to go down too well with Kohli who walked away after a stare.

Gambhir, however, was not done. He was seen hurling a mouthful at Kohli. The former India opener was seen charging towards Kohli multiple times even as his teammates, including captain KL Rahul, tried to calm him down. The situation turned uglier when Gambhir broke away and came face-to-face with Kohli who too did not back away. The players exchanged some heated words with Kohli seemingly trying to explain to Gambhir what the matter was.

The duo was separated by Amit Mishra and others.

The matter did not end there. Kohli was then seen having a lengthy chat with Rahul on the sidelines. The LSG captain tried to call his Afghanistan pacer Naveen possibly to end the matter mutually but the right-arm seamer ignored it and walked away. Kohli once again mouthed a few words before continuing his conversation with Rahul.

“Lucknow Super Giants’ bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has been fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Naveen-ul-Haq admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct,” IPL said.

RCB scored 126/9 batting first on a difficult surface and then managed to restrict LSG at 108 to win the match by 18 runs.