Following a fractious end to Monday night's IPL game, with Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir having to be separated from each other, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batter addressed the situation in a video published by his team on YouTube.
Captured candidly as he was celebrating with the rest of the players, Kohli was seen saying, "That's a sweet win boys. A sweet win. If you can give it, you got to take it. Otherwise don't give it."
RCB came from behind to beat Lucknow Super Giants in a low-scoring tussle, which bore striking resemblance to a grudge match. The two teams had already been involved in previous game that also turned out to be an emotional roller-coaster when LSG secured a last-ball, one-wicket victory in Bengaluru.
In celebrating that win, Gambhir was seen shushing the Chinnaswamy crowd, a gesture which Kohli reprised at Ekana stadium.
Back in the dressing room, and speaking directly to the camera, Kohli added, "It was a really important win for us. The fact that we got more support from the home crowd is an unbelievable feeling. It tells you all about how much we are liked as a team and how people come out and back us. It's a very sweet win. Feels very good for many reasons but most importantly for the kind of character we showed defending that total [126]. I think everyone had the belief that we could do it and we were on the winning side which is great."
The IPL took note of the altercation and fined both Kohli and Gambhir 100% of their match fees. They were found to be in breach of article 2.21 of the tournament's code of conduct, which covers all type of conduct that brings the game into disrepute, including unruly public behaviour.
While the players were shaking hands after the game, there seemed to be words exchanged between LSG bowler Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli. Naveen was fined 50% of his match fees.
RCB director of operations Mike Hesson admitted that some of the needle stemmed from the two teams' first meeting at this IPL. "I guess after the last match at the Chinnaswamy, where we lost off the last ball, it always felt like we were really desperate to get this one. So I think you probably saw a little bit of that boil over tonight."
The RCB captain had no problems with the spectacle. "That's the best version of Virat, isn't it?" Faf du Plessis said. "To see him pumped up like that. That's when he's at his best. It's really awesome to be a part of it. My job is to keep things calm on the field, which I thought we did really well."