NEW DELHI: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar called for tougher action such as match suspension, instead of heavy fines, for RCB batsman Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir following their very aggressive war of words, which broke down shortly before an all-out brawl, following an IPL match in Lucknow.
02:46
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir fined 100% of their match fee after heated exchange after LSG-RCB match
Both Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100% of their ma fee Gavaskar questioned the effectiveness of such large fines and compared the situation to the Sreesanth-Harbhajan ‘Slapgate’ incident in the IPL.
Gavaskar told Star Sports: “My point is to do something that will ensure these things don’t happen again. If it has to, you know, like it happened with Harbhajan Singh e Sreesanth 10 years ago, that you have to ask them to step aside for maybe a couple of games… make sure you do something that ensures these things don’t happen and also something that will hurt the team.”
IPL is watched by millions of people. Cricketers are role models for many. Bad spat sends a terrible message, especially to impressionable young people. Imposing fines on super wealthy cricketers serves as little deterrent. Apart from the fine, they should also be made to miss matches such as expelled players.
Gavaskar said, “What exactly is a 100% match fee? If it’s Kohli, who has maybe Rs 17 crore for RCB, that means Rs 17 crore for a possible 16 matches including semi-finals and finals (sic So you are talking about one crore of rupees.
“Are you going to be fined? 1 crore and more? Well that’s a very, very stiff fine. I don’t know what Gambhir’s situation is. They should make sure it doesn’t happen again. You hope it doesn’t happen again because it’s such a stiff fine, such a harsh punishment.
“A lot of it has to do with the fact that everything is on TV. Because you’re on TV, you tend to maybe do that extra bit,” said the former trailblazer.
