[Watch] "Masala khatam ho gaya to boohoo kar rahe ho" - Virat Kohli after ending feud with Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir

At a recent social event, Virat Kohli spoke about sharing a hug with Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir, which put an end to their feud from last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). Kohli, Naveen, and Gambhir were involved in a heated argument after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) encounter in IPL 2023.

Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq shared a moment during India’s ODI World Cup match against Afghanistan last year as they hugged it out on the field, putting aside all their issues. Recently, in the ongoing IPL 2024, Kohli and Gambhir shared a hug during the drinks break of the RCB vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) contest.

Taking a sarcastic jibe at fans, Kohli said that his behavior has ‘disappointed’ the people, stating that they’re grown-ups and not kids.

“Log bohot disappointed hog aye hain mere behavior se. Naveen ke saath maine jhappi daal li, us din Gauti bhai ne aake mereko jhappi daal di. Matlab, tumhara masala khatam ho gaya to boohoo kar rahe ho. Abey bache thodi na hain yaar,” Kohli said during an interaction with host Gaurav Kapoor. (People are very disappointed with my behavior. I hugged Naveen, and then the other day Gauti bhai [Gautam Gambhir] hugged me. Now that they don’t have anything juicy, they’ve started boohooing. We are not kids!)

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What led to a feud between Kohli-Naveen-Gambhir?

During the LSG vs RCB encounter at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, the hosts were struggling to chase down the low target of 130 runs posted by RCB. Kohli and Naveen were involved in a feud when the latter was batting in the second innings.

It was also being said that, at a point in time in the game, Kohli's suggestion to his teammates to bowl some bouncers to the LSG tail-enders did not sit well with Naveen. Neither of the two cricketers backed out, as the situation kept worsening.

The two had a heated altercation, with neither of them stepping back, thereby adding fuel to the fire with their actions. Eventually, Bangalore clinched a victory by 18 runs. When players of both sides shook hands, Kohli and Naveen were involved in another argument, which led to the then LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir stepping in.

Gambhir and Kohli were then involved in a verbal altercation before LSG skipper KL Rahul stepped in to calm them down. The matter took a very serious turn, and the three were eventually handed hefty fines for breaching IPL’s code of conduct.

While the feud turned out to be one of the most talked-about controversies in the tournament’s history, the three cricketers put an end to it soon.