A heated argument between former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir and current star Virat Kohli during the Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore match at Ekana Stadium on May 1 has resulted in the two players being charged with Level 2 offenses by the IPL organizing committee.
The altercation started between LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli during the last few overs of the match and continued until the post-match handshake. Gambhir then got involved, which escalated the situation.
Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has expressed his concern over such behavior and wants the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to impose stricter penalties to prevent such incidents in the future. He believes that monetary fines mean very little to players like Kohli, who earns a lot of money by playing in the Indian Premier League. Gavaskar also suggested the possibility of suspending players involved in such altercations, as it happened with Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth ten years ago.
Gavaskar expressed his concerns in a recent interview with Star Sports, stating that “What is a 100 percent match fee? If it is Kohli, who is on maybe Rs 17 crore for RCB, which means Rs 17 crore for a possible 16 matches, including the semi-finals, and finals. So you are talking about a crore of rupees. Is he going to be fined Rs 1 crore and more? Well, that’s a very, very stiff fine.”
Gavaskar also stated that during his time as a cricketer, there was some banter, but there was none of the aggression that is seen now. He believes that the increased aggression could be due to the fact that everything is now televised, and players tend to do just a little bit extra.
Overall, Gavaskar wants the BCCI to do something that ensures such incidents do not occur again and suggested stricter penalties to hurt the teams, which would be a stiff punishment. While it remains to be seen what action the IPL organizing committee and the BCCI will take, Gavaskar’s comments raise important questions about the need to address aggressive behavior in cricket.
