A fiery Virat Kohli was the cynosure of all eyes when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fought for T20 supremacy in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday. From animated celebrations to his heated altercation with former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, Kohli remained the talk of the town in the cricket spectrum for his on-field antics.
Hogging limelight for all the wrong reasons, former RCB skipper Kohli and LSG mentor Gambhir were involved in a heated exchange after Bangalore's memorable win over Lucknow in match No.43 of the IPL 2023 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. The batting maestro also had an ugly face-off with LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq after the conclusion of the low-scoring contest in the IPL 2023.
Reflecting on RCB's win over LSG in the IPL 2023, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull issued a noteworthy statement about Kohli, who was nothing but a livewire throughout the low-scoring encounter at Lucknow. "He [Virat Kohli] was very passionate tonight, wasn't he? Every wicket that went down, it was like he was up. I mean, he plays that way in general terms. I think that's been one of the great things about the way he has played. If he needs that passion to get himself going, I've got no problem with that," Doull told Cricbuzz.
Kohli played a crucial knock of 31 off 30 balls while RCB skipper Faf du Plessis smashed 44 off 40 balls to help the visitors post 126-9 in 20 overs. Pacer Naveen was the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow as the Afghanistan fast bowler bagged three wickets and leaked 30 runs in four overs. In reply, KL Rahul's LSG side only mustered 108 in 19.5 overs to lose the match by 18 runs.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli played a crucial knock of 31 off 30 balls while RCB skipper Faf du Plessis smashed 44 off 40 balls to help the visitors post 126-9 in 20 overs. Pacer Naveen was the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow as the Afghanistan fast bowler bagged three wickets and leaked 30 runs in four overs. In reply, KL Rahul's LSG side only mustered 108 in 19.5 overs to lose the match by 18 runs.
{{/usCountry}}For his post-match altercations with LSG mentor Gambhir and Naveen, RCB star Kohli was fined 100 per cent of his match fees for breaching Article 2.21 of the IPL code of conduct. Hitting back at LSG stars in a video published by RCB on YouTube, Kohli took a sly dig at Gambhir and Co. while celebrating Bangalore's win with his teammates, "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," Kohli said.