Five instances when Gautam Gambhir trolled Virat Kohli

Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian opener, has always been skeptical of the Indian great Virat Kohli for obvious reasons that only the southpaw knows of. Ever since the duo got involved in a heated exchange during the 2013 Indian T20 League, Gambhir has always found a way or the other to take a dig at Kohli, either directly or indirectly. 

In 2009, it was the same Gambhir who gave up his Player of the Match award to Kohli, when the latter scored his first-ever hundred international hundred against Sri Lanka. However, things escalated quickly between the two, although they both hail from the same city, Delhi. 

As things stand let us take a look at five instances when Gambhir slammed Kohli:

1) The 20-20 World Cup 2022 advice

Gautam Gambhir advised Virat Kohli to play for the team (Image source: Twitter)

Prior to the start of the 20-20 World Cup 2022, Gambhir hit the headlines when he advised the Indian great to bat for the team and not for personal records. Commenting on the tournament, the southpaw said that one must leave personal records at home when participating in major tournaments. 

“When you go in such tournaments, you have to keep your personal records at home. Individual records don’t matter in such tournaments. Even if you score 200 runs in the tournament and your team wins, that will be your legacy,” Gambhir was quoted as saying earlier. 

2) Suryakumar Yadav to bat at Number 3

Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli (Image Source: Twitter)

During the Asia Cup 2022 in September, the former Indian opener said that Suryakumar Yadav, who was in blistering form at the moment, should bat at Number 3 as compared to Kohli, only to end up getting trolled on social media. 

“I believe that if Suryakumar Yadav bats at the number three position, it would be better as compared to Virat Kohli,” Gambhir said to Star Sports after India’s game against Hong Kong in Group stages. The comment, however, did not fare well with the fans who hit back by saying that the southpaw was insecure about the Indian great. 

3) ‘Nothing kind of a shot’ 

Virat Kohli, Pakistan team (Image Source: Twitter)

When India faced Pakistan in the Group Stage match of the Asia Cup 2022, Kohli scored 35 runs off 34 balls before making his way back off Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery. Gambhir, who criticised Kohli for getting out by playing an unwanted shot, said that the batter should have rather tried to stay in the crease. 

“It is T20 cricket, you think at times that you should back your instincts and you did that, but it is a frustrating shot because it was a nothing shot. Here neither did you try to hit a six nor did you find a gap. Literally, it was a nothing shot” Gambhir slammed the right-handed batter during the post-match show on Star Sports. 

4) The Cape Town 2022 Saga

Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir (Image Source: Twitter)

During the third test between India and South Africa in early 2022 in Cape Town, Kohli, the then-captain of the Indian team, was caught taking a dig at the broadcasters over a DRS call in the stump mic. The former Indian cricketer, who was irritated by the same, slammed Kohli by calling him an immature person. 

“Kohli is very immature. It’s worst for an Indian captain to say like this in stumps. By doing this you will never be an idol to youngsters,” Gambhir was quoted as saying on Star Sports post the incident. 

5) The 2019 ‘Results are everywhere to see’ comments

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma(Image Source; Twitter)

In 2019, Gambhir took a dig at Kohli for his captaincy and said that the batter has good captaincy records only because of having Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the side. Further, the 41-year-old cited Indian T20 League records and said that his captaincy records were everywhere to be seen. 

“Still a long way to go for him. He captains so well in international cricket because he has got Rohit Sharma, he had MS Dhoni for a long time. See what Rohit Sharma has achieved for Mumbai, see what Dhoni has achieved for Chennai. If you compare that with RCB, the results are there for everyone to see,” he said. 

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