Rajat Bhatia is a domestic stalwart. Someone with a batting average of nearly 50 in first-class and over 3000 runs at 41.05 in List A cricket. Not only this, he was with five different Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises in a 10-year-long career where he played 95 matches. Yet according to the all-rounder, all he’s remembered for is stopping that infamous fight between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
Kohli & Gambhir’s fight in IPL 2023
In the IPL 2013 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders were taking on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 11. In the second inning, RCB was 75/1 after 9 overs and needed just 80 runs from 11 overs. On the next ball, Kohli got out. While celebrating, Gambhir and the young batter (25 then) had a word with the KKR captain.
They angrily walked together, but Rajat Bhatia, who was their Delhi teammate and representing KKR at the time, stopped them. The news took the world by storm. But the two batters weren’t that serious and brushed it off. However, for Rajat, he says that it’s what he remembered by after nearly 12 years.
“Mujhe sab log iss liye jaante hain ki maine do logon ki fight rukwayi thi, mere cricket ke wajah se nahi, (People mostly know me for stopping the fight between two players, not because of my performances),” Rajat Bhatia said live on air.
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Another Gambhir vs Kohli fight
Gambhir and Kohli had another altercation in the IPL. This time, Gambhir was Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor, and Kohli was playing. The batter had an issue with Naveen-ul-Haq, and the two exchanged words. After the match, Gambhir and Kohli crossed paths and they got into it again. A decade after that infamous fight, they repeated what had Ekana Cricket Stadium on May 2, 2023.
Change in dynamic post 2nd alternation
Since then, things have eased up. Gambhir is now the India cricket team’s head coach, and Kohli is playing under him. They were addressed the issue in a chat that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a little while after Gambhir joined the team officially in Sri Lanka.
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