Kohli-Gambhir fight: BCCI should ban players for such incidents, my kids also understand 'Ben Stokes' comment

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IPL 2023: Giving his verdict on the on-field spat between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, former India and Delhi cricketer Virender Sehwag has said that BCCI banning players will see a drop in such incidents.

A verbal feud broke out between Kohli and Gambhir after the LSG versus RCB as the two cricketing stalwarts were separated by players and support staff of the two teams.

It all started in the 17th over of Lucknow's run-chase when Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli had a go at each other. Amit Mishra, who was batting alongside Naveen at that point, intervened but was seemingly shunned too by Kohli.

Later during the ceremonial handshake, the RCB star and Naveen again had a verbal spat. Kohli's RCB teammate Glenn Maxwell tried to mediate this time.

Sehwag has condemned the action by the two players and said that Kohli and Gambhir set a wrong example in front of kids watching the match on their TV.

"I switched off the TV once the match got over. I had no idea about what happened after the match. The next day when I woke up, I saw a lot of chaos on social media. What happened wasn't right.

“The loser should quietly accept defeat and walk away and the winning team should celebrate. Why did they need to say anything to each other. I always say one thing, that these guys are icons of the country.

"If they do or say anything, millions of kids follow them and probably think 'If my icon has done this, I would too'. So if they keep these things in mind, they would limit such incidents," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

He further suggested that the BCCI should start banning players for such on-field behaviours. Further, he stated that his own kids can lip-read players abusing each other, adding that they can take cue from Kohli and Gambhir and think there is no problem in behaving in such uncalled fashions.

"If the BCCI decides to ban anyone, then maybe such incidents will happen rarely or not take place at all. Such incidents have happened several times in the past so it's better to do whatever you want to inside the controlled environment of the dressing room.

“When you're on the ground, these things don't look nice. My own kids can lip-read and they very well understand Ben Stokes.

“So that is when I feel bad. If you're saying such things, if my kids can read it, others can too and tomorrow they will think that if they (Kohli and Gambhir) can say it, so can I," Sehwag added.

Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 percent of their match following the incident.