Ahead of the second T20I match in Guyana between India and West Indies, Mayers opened up on that ugly scene in Lucknow.
It has been more than two months since the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) came to and there have still been more discussions on that infamous night in Lucknow than the tournament. On that spring evening at that Ekana Stadium, moments after Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win against Lucknow Super Giants, two stalwarts of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir had broken into a fight which required fellow players to jump in and separate the two. The fight had also involved West Indies batter Kyle Mayers as the star LSG player had a heated exchange with Kohli. And ahead of the second T20I match in Guyana between India and West Indies, Mayers opened up on that ugly scene in Lucknow.
The episode had started when Kohli and LSG player Naveen-ul-Haq had a war of words as RCB looked to successfully defend their total. The umpire and the fellow LSG player Amit Mishra had to intervene to stop the two before the fight stretched to post-match proceedings where the two shared an intense handshake. And just when it seemed that things were about to subside, Mayers had walked upto Kohli to have a few words and the former RCB captain was not pleased at all before Gambhir, LSG’s mentor came to his teammate’s rescue.
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Opening up on that exchange with Kohli in an interview with Fan Code, Mayers said: “It’s great, sometimes you need to get at your opposition, to create any chance to get out of the game. Being aggressive is always good, it shows courage and the willingness to get your team over the line.”
It was that exchange that sparked infamous Kohli-Gambhir scene, for which the two were later slapped with heavy fines by BCCI.
Gambhir was charged 75 per cent of his match fees and later admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.21 of the IPL Code of Conduct, while Kohli was fined his entire match fees.
During the video, Mayers also had his say on whose wicket bewteen Rohit Sharma and Kohli is more important to him and without an inch of hesitation, the Windies all-rounder picked the former captain. “Any bowler would want to dismiss Kohli, the best player across all three formats,” he said.