WATCH: THIS Pakistan Batter Defends Virat Kohli In His Fight Against Gautam Gambhir In IPL 2023, Says LSG Mentor ‘Did It Out Of Jealousy’

Former India captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter Virat Kohli has got support from an unlikely corner with former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad speaking up on his behalf after his fight with former India opener and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir at IPL 2023 last month. The fight between Kohli and Gambhir was one of the biggest talking points of IPL 2023 and both cricketers were fined 100 per cent of their match fees after the match in Lucknow.

Gambhir and Kohli had a heated exchange of words after the IPL 2023 match between RCB and LSG at the Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium last month. Kohli had a war of words with LSG’s Naveen-ul-Haq first, and then the team’s mentor Gambhir joined in.

Speaking recently on the Nadir Ali podcast, former Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad shared his views on the incident, insisting that Gambhir did the act out of jealousy.

“As a viewer, as a sportsman, this hurt my feelings a lot. It seemed like Gautam Gambhir was trying to do something out of jealousy. It looked like he was waiting for something to happen so that he can create a controversy with Virat,” Shehzad said.

WATCH Ahmed Shehzad speak in support of Virat Kohli HERE…

Ahmed Shahzad defends Virat Kohli in the incident with Gautam Gambhir.

Ahmed also said Gautam would never do that to someone like Tendulkar. Virat is a legend, and has earned more respect that Gautam ever did in life.

Video Credit: Nadir Ali Podcastpic.twitter.com/9XVIY0oHrQ — Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) June 22, 2023

The former Pakistan opener further added that it was probably the first time he saw a member of a team management argue the way Gambhir did with Virat Kohli on the cricket field. “It was really sad to see such an episode. I can understand that Kohli had a fight with the player from Afghanistan (Naveen-ul-Haq) because such things happen in the heat of the moment. But I did not understand why Gautam Gambhir showed such gestures towards the biggest player of his own country, Kohli,” Shehzad added.

Kohli, Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq were heavily fined following the incident in Lucknow. Gambhir even said in an interview after the IPL that their fight was only on the field, not off the field.

Shehzad went on to add that Kohli has always been there for him off the field whenever he needed to speak to him. “Friendship is in the sense that we both respect each other a lot. Whenever I need advice, he is always there. He has been kind enough, humble enough. I really respect him as a player. He changed dramatically over the years. When he was an U-19 player, he was quite chubby,” Shehzad said on Nadir Ali’s podcast.