Anil Chaudhary, the former international umpire, has opened up on the controversial episode between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir during the IPL 2013 edition, revealing that he knew that something would be brewing between both the aggressive captains.
While Kohli was leading the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise, Gambhir was captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) franchise. Delving into the details, the duo had a heated argument after Kohli’s dismissal in RCB’s chase at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in April 2012.
While the batter was walking off the field, they exchanged words. Kohli then turned back and walked up to Gambhir. However, the players and officials stepped in before things could get worse. Chaudhary, while speaking on JioHotstar, said he had expected a confrontation to happen.
“I knew something like that would happen because all of them from the North play with aggression. I have played local cricket too, and our players have always played like this,” Chaudhary said on JioHotstar.
“If they don’t play with that aggression, their performances won’t come out as well. The flavour of the game won’t be there if you put too many restrictions on the players. But there’s a limit, and it shouldn’t be crossed,” he added.
A few years later, after RCB defeated the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a league stage fixture in IPL 2023, the two Delhi cricketers got into another heated altercation. However, the duo has a good relationship at the moment, especially after Gambhir was appointed the Indian head coach.
“Actually, my advantage with Virat was that I had officiated his matches since childhood, so I have known him for a long time. He doesn’t have any malice,” Chaudhary said.
“He reacts aggressively sometimes, but if you’re right, he’ll give you a thumbs up too. Between overs, he’ll come over and put a hand around your waist. But he is lively throughout. Players like him should be there; otherwise, the game will get boring,” he concluded.
