Watch: Kohli shows shoe to Naveen, hurls mouthful at Mishra, LSG pacer brushes off handshake after RCB win heated match

Kohli's spat with Mishra followed by an episode with Naveen stole the script which later transformed into an uncomfortable scene between him and Gambhir.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore-Lucknow Super Giants match stood in stark contrast to the general trend in the IPL 2023. Most or all matches have so far been high-scoring affairs with even totals of 200-plus not being safe anymore. Amid the sixes and fours, the fifties and batting milestones came a match where the batters struggled on a pitch that was slow, the ball was gripping and turning. It was that kind of a track where KL Rahul's services were more of a need than any other batter, yet LSG were left unfortunate over his hamstring injury. RCB eventually won the game by 18 runs despite posting a low total of 126 for nine.

Virat Kohli showed his shoe to Naveen-ul-Haq, LSG pacer brushed off handshake with RCB legend

But the talk of the match was far from related to the game. Virat Kohli's spat with Amit Mishra followed by an episode with Naveen-ul-Haq stole the script which later transformed into an uncomfortable scene even after the match ended.

The row began in the fag end of Lucknow's innings, in the 17th over, when Kohli was seen having a lengthy and heated chat with the on-field umpires who looked to calm the RCB star down. An over later, the entire footage was played by the broadcasters where Kohli seemed to have said something which led to a reaction from Naveen as he charged towards him. Kohli verbally retaliated and also showed his shoe before pointing at Naveen. It was not clear what Kohli was trying to say but a player of his stature pointing at his shoe and then raising his finger at an opponent far younger than him did not paint a rosy picture.

Watch: Gambhir charges at Kohli, pushes Rahul away; ugly post-match scenes

The umpires walked in to intervene. Later, Kohli was seen having a short exchange with Mishra as well with the umpire standing in between, looking to stop the fight.

Watch Video: Virat Kohli shows shoe to Naveen-ul-Haq, umpires intervene

The footage also included a portion where Kohli seemed to have been warning Mishra to calm down Naveen before the Afghanistan cricketer threw a death stare at the former RCB captain.

Video: Virat Kohli hurls a mouthful at Amit Mishra during LSG vs RCB match

After the match ended, as the players queued up to shake hands, Kohli and Naveen too shook hands but there was a short exchange of words once again. Kohli did not pay heed to it as he moved on to shake the next player’s hand, but turned back immediately as Naveen kept on hurling a mouthful. However, before things could potentially get out of control, Glenn Maxwell stepped up and separated the two.

Video: Naveen-ul-Haq brushes off Kohli after intense handshake post LSG vs RCB match

There was a third part to it as well. Almost immediately after the handshakes, Kohli had an ugly spat with LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir, who charged at the RCB stalwart, ignoring desperate attempts from Rahul and others to stop him. After the entire Kohli-Gambhir episode, the former India captain was seen having a chat with Rahul over the same matter, probably explaining his side of the story when Naveen walked past. He then looked back and said some words, but Kohli ignored him and gestured him to move away.