The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is set to witness a potential clash of titans as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) face off against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. The match will be played at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, where the last encounter between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli resulted in an intense on-field battle.
Former KKR and RCB star Varun Aaron anticipates that Gambhir’s presence in the Knight Riders dugout will ignite Kohli’s competitive spirit. “I’m eagerly looking forward to the match-up outside the boundary line,” Aaron said. “Gautam Gambhir is going to be right beside the Bengaluru dug-out, and I don’t know what’s going to happen there. We know Virat likes to have fire in his belly, and if he just looks at the Kolkata dug-out, he’s going to get fired up.”
The rivalry between Gambhir and Kohli reached a boiling point during an RCB vs Lucknow Super Giants match in IPL 2023. Kohli initially clashed with LSG’s Naveen-ul-Haq, prompting Gambhir to intervene and engage in a verbal altercation with the former.
Gambhir later defended his actions, stating, “It is not about Naveen-ul-Haq. I would have defended any player, that is my job, that is how I am. Why should I not defend my players just because someone has a broadcaster working for him, left right and centre, someone who has more social media presence doesn’t have any right to walk over someone.”
While Kohli and Naveen have since reconciled, the equation between Gambhir and the RCB star remains uncertain. The Friday night match will provide an opportunity to gauge the current dynamics between the two players.
