'Everything we hear..': Did Virat Kohli take a dig at Gautam Gambhir in cryptic post after match?

Gautam Gambhir & Virat Kohli (Pic: AFP)

One of RCB's batting mainstays, Virat Kohli, and former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir, who is also the LSG mentor, added another chapter to their bitter rivalry as they got involved in an ugly face-off after Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs. As a consequence, both were on Tuesday fined 100 percent of their match fees for breaching Article 2.21 of the IPL code of conduct, which relates to public acts of misconduct, unruly public behaviour, and inappropriate comments detrimental to the interest of the game.

Kohli seemed to be referring to the spat with his former India and Delhi state team-mate when he said, "You got to take it, otherwise don't give it", after the match.

That did not seem to be the end after all. Kohli 'played it bold' again, as he said, "That's a sweet win boys. A sweet win. Let's go. If you can give it, you got to take it. Otherwise don't give it", in a video published by his team on YouTube, where he was seen celebrating with the rest of the RCB players. The trigger was probably the interaction between Kohli, who seemed animated throughout the fielding innings of RCB, and LSG opener Kyle Mayers.

Also Read: Kohli vs Gambhir 2.0: When Gautam sacrificed his POTM award for centurion Virat

Kohli and Gambhir are former India team-mates and have played together for the Delhi state side but they have had a history of face-offs. The duo was also involved in a face-off 10 years ago in the IPL during RCB's match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru. The last time when LSG and RCB clashed in Bengaluru in this edition, Gambhir had gestured towards the Bengaluru crowd with a 'shut up' sign.

Hours after the spat led to varied reactions on social media, the former RCB skipper dropped a cryptic Instagram story, hinting at how perspectives can change people's thought processes. See the post below.

Former India captain Anil Kumble was, however, not impressed with the behaviour of Kohli and Gambhir, saying showing emotions in the way it happened on Monday was "unacceptable".

"A lot of emotion goes in but you don't want to be displaying those emotions here. This is important, you need to have a conversation. But this is something that's unacceptable," Kumble told the broadcasters. "No matter what, you have to respect the opposition and the game. Once a game is over, you have to shake hands and tip your hat off, not to the player but to the game because that's something you need to respect. I don't know what was spoken, some things may have been personal and you don't want that on the cricket field. But with Gautam and Virat and the players involved, it wasn't the nicest thing to see," he added.

(With PTI inputs)