"Abusing My Player Is Like Abusing My Family": What Gautam Gambhir Told Virat Kohli During On-field Spat. Report

The ugly bust-up between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli was quintessentially Delhi and waiting to happen. Both don't believe in pulling punches and have been carrying their own baggage of mutual dislike for each other. Opinions are divided among those who were present after the IPL game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday night, when the altercation took place between the two World Cup-winning players.

Some found it juvenile, a few others liked the spice and the idea of intense rivalry, while the firm believers of the 'Gentlemen's Game' thought it could have been avoided. So what happened in Lucknow on Monday night? An eyewitness, who was in one of the team dug-outs, gave a lowdown of events to PTI.

"You saw on TV that Mayers and Virat were walking side by side for a few metres post match. Mayers asked Kohli why was he constantly abusing them and Virat, in turn, questioned why was he (Mayers) 'staring' at him? Before that (Amit) Mishra had complained to umpire about Virat constantly abusing Naveen (ul-Haq), who is a No. 10 batter.

"Gautam, sensing that things could turn ugly, pulled Mayers and told him not to have a conversation, when Virat made a comment. The heated exchange that followed seemed a bit juvenile," he said.

"Gautam asked 'Kya bol raha hain bol'(What were you saying?) and Virat replied, 'Maine aapko kuch bola hi naahin, aap kyon ghus rahein ho' (Why are you coming in between when I haven't told you anything).

"Gautam responded, 'Tuney agar mere player ko bola hai, matlab tune meri family ko gaali diya hai. (You abused my player and that's like abusing my family) and Virat's reply was, 'Toh aap apne family ko sambhal ke rakhiye'. (Then you take care of your family).

"Gambhi