The feud between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir was reignited in spectacular fashion during the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it has reached a point where it is now being used even in matches where both of these players are not directly involved.
A case in point is the IPL 2023 game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants. During the penultimate over of the first innings, in which SRH were batting, there was a controversial no-ball call made that left SRH’s players furious.
Avesh Khan bowled what appeared to the naked eye as a waist-high no-ball to Abdul Samad, and the on-field umpire duly called it a no-ball.
However, LSG skipper Krunal Pandya reviewed the decision. And it was bizarrely reversed by the third umpire, despite the ball tracking clearly showing that it was going over the waist.
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This led to the home crowd also getting rather unruly, as they began to chant ‘Kohli, Kohli’ at the LSG dugout in a clear bid to get a reaction from LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir.
To then make things worse, they also threw nuts and bolts at the LSG dugout and that needed the umpires to go all the way towards the dugout in a bid to calm fans down.
This attracted plenty of criticism that was led on-air by commentator Simon Doull, who said that the crowd did not do the home side any favours with their behaviour.
Even Heinrich Klaasen, who was at the crease till the end of the 19th over, expressed his disappointment at the way the fans behaved.
“Disappointed with the crowd to be honest, that’s not what you want. That broke the momentum of the innings, although the umpiring wasn’t great either,” he told Star Sports.
It was LSG who went on to have the last laugh, however, as they registered a seven-wicket win while chasing to leave SRH’s play-off hopes hanging by a thread.
There was also a funny moment towards the end of the match where LSG’s bowling coach Morne Morkel urged Gambhir to give it back to the SRH fans as it was becoming clear that the match was slipping away from the home team.
Gambhir, to his credit, did not rise to the bait but he did allow himself to have a laugh – perhaps the win was all the vindication he needed against those chanting Virat Kohli’s name!
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