Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli are certainly not the best behaved cricketers in the game today, but, given their long association, few would expect a public spat between them.
Gambhir and Kohli have not just played together for India, and Delhi, and the North Zone in domestic cricket, but they also turn out for the same office side, ONGC.
But, as George Orwell said, sport is “war minus the shooting” and “an unfailing cause of ill will”, with the potential to turn brother against brother.
So it happened at a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Having smashed Pradeep Sangwan for two sixes in the previous over, Kohli went for a wild slash off the first delivery of the 10th over and was caught in the covers.
The KKR players erupted with joy and rushed towards Eoin Morgan, who had taken the catch, to celebrate. Kohli, instead of walking off towards the pavilion, walked in their direction as well and made a remark that did not go down well with Gambhir.
The KKR and RCB captains charged menacingly towards each other, using the most colourful language, and things could have got uglier but Rajat Bhatia – another Delhi and North Zone cricketer – rushed in and pushed both of them away.
“Bhatia is someone who everybody respects,” an unnamed KKR player was quoted as saying in an Indian newspaper the next day. “It helped that he was there.”
According to the cricketer, if Bhatia had not have been there, things would have become uglier.
Another “Slapgate” perhaps, or even a “Punchgate”.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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