LUCKNOW: Indian cricket star Virat Kohli was fined on Tuesday for the second time in this IPL season after a post-match altercation with former national team-mate Gautam Gambhir in Lucknow on Monday.

Both were docked their entire match fee, the Indian Premier League said, while Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was fined 50 percent of his for breaching the league’s code of conduct.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Kohli and Naveen of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were seen having sharp words on the field during a tense match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.

The 34-year-old Kohli, who has often run into trouble with his aggressive approach, had to be restrained by an opposition batsman during the match. Bangalore eventually won by 18 runs.

Afterwards, Lucknow’s Kyle Mayers had to be led away from an exchange with Kohli before other players tried unsuccessfully to stop a visibly furious Gambhir, Lucknow’s team mentor, from confronting him.

Earlier towards the end of the match, there was a flashpoint between Kohli and Naveen which left the latter furious.

According to the Hindustan Times website, the incident started with Kohli saying some words directed at Naveen before showing his shoe at the bowler. The paceman was left furious as he came charging towards the former RCB skipper.

The umpire and Mishra, the LSG batter in the middle at the time, intervened immediately. Kohli kept the intense talk going this time looking at Mishra signalling to keep Naveen calm.

After the match, the two shared an aggressive handshake before Naveen uttered a few words. Kohli did not pay heed to it and moved on but Naveen continued.

Kohli then stopped and retaliated verbally. And before things got a bit more intense, Glenn Maxwell stepped in and separated the two.

According to Indian Express, Naveen later told one of his Lucknow Super Giants team-mates: “I have come here to play in the IPL, not to take abuse from anyone.”

The Afghan cricketer also took to social media where he wrote on his Instagram story: “You get what you deserved that’s how it should be and that’s how it goes.”

Meanwhile, Kohli took to social media with a cryptic Instagram post quoting a famed Roman emperor and philosopher.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. — Marcus Aurelius,” Kohli wrote.

Gambhir and Kohli, who played together when India won the 2011 World Cup, had a shouting match before Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis intervened.

The former national team-mates were also involved in an ugly on-field exchange in a 2013 IPL match.

This was Kohli’s second offence this season after he was fined 10 percent of his match fee for his conduct during Bangalore’s loss to Chennai Super Kings last month.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2023