Gautam Gambhir opens up about ugly spat with Virat Kohli in IPL 2013

After leading Royal Challengers Bangalore for seven seasons, Virat Kohli abdicated the role of skipper after IPL 2021. While Kohli is still part of the RCB team, the Bengaluru based franchise bought Faf du Plessis in the mega auction and revealed him as the new captain ahead of IPL 2022.

Viirat Kohli is someone who is well known for his robust attitude on the field, not ready to give an inch to the opposition. Someone who was made of the same mould is Virat Kohli's former India teammate Gautam Gambhir.

During the 2013 edition of IPL both Kohli and Gambhir were embroiled in an ugly verbal altercation. Little short of a decade later, the cricketer turned politician Gautam Gambhir opened up about the incident.

Talking to Jatin Sapru on his YouTube channel, the former India opener blew the lid off the incident and said that he did not hold anything "personal" against Virat Kohli.

"That's okay, I am absolutely fine with it and I expect him to be like that. I am like that. I like that contest, I like people who are competitive. MS Dhoni is a competitor in his own way, Virat is a competitor in his own way. Sometimes when you are leading the side, you have to do it even if you don't want to do it because you want your team to play the way you want. As a leader, sometimes you are not thinking about personal relationships with the other guy (but) just because you are leading a team, you have to do it", said Gambhir.

"That's why there was nothing personal (then) and there never will be personal against Virat Kohli. And I say it again and again that what he's achieved, I am absolutely not surprised. That's the kind of player he was when we saw him early but what he's transformed into, I think from a fitness point of view and the way he's worked on his skills is tremendous",Gambhir further added.

Indian Premier League 2022 is slated to kick off on 26th March and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will go face to face with KKR in the season opener. In the meantime, RCB will have their first game on 27th March, against Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Also Read: IPL 2022: Skipper Shreyas Iyer ready to bat at any position for KKR