Remember all the hullabaloo over Gautam Gambhir’s heated exchange with Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023? The former Indian cricketer was apparently at the receiving end when a group of fans started chanting Kohli’s name during the 2023 edition of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka on Monday. A video featuring Gambhir being escorted by an official at an Asia Cup venue became the talk of the town on social media.
Taking cognisance of the viral video, fans were convinced that Gambhir had hit back at ‘Kohli fans’ through an indecent gesture. Gambhir was slammed on social media for losing his temper as the former cricketer was believed to have gotten agitated by the ‘Kohli-Kohli’ chants at the match venue. Did Gambhir unleash a fiery gesture only because of the ‘Kohli-Kohli’ chants against him at the match venue? The former Indian cricketer has broken his silence after courting fresh controversy.
ALSO READ: Watch: Gautam Gambhir loses cool amid ‘Virat Kohli’ chants, flips the crowd with indecent gesture during Asia Cup game
‘Any Indian would react how I did’
According to Gambhir, the celebrated Indian cricketer was troubled by some fans of the Pakistan cricket team. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday, Gambhir opened up about his controversial gesture during the continental tournament. “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Not everything is as it seems. Any Indian would react how I did to the kind of slogans used against our nation. I love our players & I love my country,” Gambhir said.
Speaking to news agency ANI during India’s match against Nepal, Gambhir asserted that some Pakistani fans hurled anti-India slogans when the former India opener was leaving the field. “What is shown on social media has no truth in it because people show whatever they want to show. There were 2-3 Pakistanis there who were speaking anti-India things and things on Kashmir. So, it was my natural reaction. I can’t hear anything against my country. So, that was my reaction,” Gambhir added.
Ugly face-off between Gambhir and Kohli in IPL
Earlier, Gambhir and Kohli were involved in a heated exchange after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2023. The global mentor of the LSG franchise had approached Kohli aggressively after the IPL match. Kohli also had heated arguments with Naveen-ul-Haq and Kyle Mayers in the cash-rich league. The RCB star and LSG mentor were fined 100 percent of their match fees at the time.
