Whatever happened between Kohli-Gambhir is not right for cricket: Harbhajan Singh

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has voiced his opinion on the altercation between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir following the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 1. Notably, the Bengaluru-based franchise emerged victorious by 18 runs against KL Rahul’s LSG in a low scoring contest in Lucknow.

However, following the conclusion of the match Kohli and LSG mentor Gambhir were involved in a heated exchange of words and had to be separated by their respective team members. Harbhajan stated that the ugly on-field scenes were ‘not right for the sport’. 

Notably, the former off-spinner cited his controversial moment with Sreesanth which wreaked havoc in 2008. During a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Harbhajan was involved in an altercation with the former Punjab pacer upon which the latter was slapped. Her was banned for the rest of the season for his act.

“I am ashamed of what I did with Sreesanth in 2008. Virat Kohli is a legend, [he] should not get involved in such things. Whatever happened between Virat and Gambhir was not right for cricket,” Harbhajan told on his YouTube channel.

Their relationship was never the same after the incident at Chinnaswamy: Harbhajan

This was not the first time that Kohli and Gambhir engaged in an on-field argument in the top-tier league. In 2013, the then KKR skipper Gambhir and then RCB skipper Kohli had a heated exchange following the latter’s dismissal at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Harbhajan added that the incident in 2013 caused a strain in their relationship despite sharing the dressing room for team India.

"If you see the highlights of this match, you'll say that there was more fighting than cricket going on. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli already have their rivalry and differences from before itself. Their relationship was never the same after the incident at the Chinnaswamy Stadium long back,” he added.