Controversy is nothing new in IPL. Ever since the inception of this league, the tournament has been in the headlines for one reason or the other. Who can forget Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth in the first season of IPL i.e. 2008? However, 15 years have passed since that controversy and Bhajji-Sreesanth have become good friends now. Both were also seen doing commentary together in IPL. But on Monday, the controversy between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir once again brought back those memories. Harbhajan has now apologized to Sreesanth through social media and has also given a statement on the Kohli-Gambhir issue.

After watching the fight between Kohli, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Gambhir, Harbhajan, popularly known as 'Turbnator', made a post on Twitter. In its caption, he wrote – I am ashamed of what I did to Sreesanth in 2008. Virat Kohli is a legend, he should not indulge in such things. Whatever happened between Virat and Gambhir was not good for cricket. Along with this, Bhajji also shared a video. In it, he says- There Gautam Gambhir came walking, Virat Kohli also came walking from the other side, there some words were spoken between the two, to each other. Look man, there will be big questions about whether it was Gambhir's fault or Kohli's fault, or Naveen's fault. Gambhir did a gesture in the last match. When Kohli went to shake hands, Gambhir pulled his hand away.

Bhajji also said- Children watch you people playing. It is our responsibility as the ambassadors of the sport to show the right direction to the younger generation and provide the right image. I hope both my brothers hug each other and let go of hatred. This would be a very positive message for us.

The dispute between Sreesanth and Bhajji happened in 2008. Sreesanth then played for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Harbhajan played for Mumbai Indians. The dispute between these two increased so much that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth in the live match. There was a lot of controversy regarding this. The result was that Harbhajan was banned for the entire season. However, now both have become very good friends.

Where did the whole controversy start?
The whole incident between Kohli and Gambhir took place during the match played between Bangalore and Lucknow on Monday. Bangalore had given a target of 127 runs while batting first. In reply, the controversy started in the 17th over of Lucknow's innings when Virat came running from behind the stumps and gestured something to Naveen. On this, Naveen of Afghanistan also came close to him and an argument started between the two. During this debate, Virat also pointed towards his shoe and took out mud from it, as if talking about status. When the rest of the players tried to intervene, Kohli and Amit Mishra also got into an argument.

Kohli said something to Naveen when the players of both teams were shaking hands after Bangalore's win. As soon as Kohli spoke, Naveen was also seen speaking something in awe. Here too there is a debate between the two. After this, when Kohli is walking along the boundary, he starts talking to Kyle Meyers of Lucknow. Then Gambhir comes and takes Meyers away from Virat and refuses to talk to him. After this, Gambhir says something which Kohli calls him near and both come very close. There was an argument between the two. In the end, a long conversation was also seen between Kohli and Lokesh Rahul.

(pc amarujala)