The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)’s 18-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) was overshadowed by an ugly spat between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir on Monday.

Despite they are not captaining, Kohli now plays for RCB as a specialist batter, and Gambhir is retired and works as the global mentor at LSG.

Their long unpleasant rivalry started just over a decade ago in the IPL during RCB’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru.

In the ongoing edition of the IPL, when Challengers hosted Super Giants at Chinnaswamy stadium last month, the former Indian opener drew first blood with a crazy celebration before having an intense handshake with Kohli after LSG’s victory.

On Monday, Kohli returned the favour with a little twist. The story however didn’t end there. The duo was engaged in an ugly spat before teammates interfered and separated them.

It all started in the fourth over of LSG’s innings when stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya hit straight in the hands of Kohli fielding at long off.

Kohli celebrate RCB’s second wicket with a flying kiss at the crowd, patted his chest and then recreated Gambhir’s celebration with a twist.

He put his finger on the lips and then signalled the crowd not to keep quiet and keep cheering. It was a similar celebration that Ghambir did during the LSG’s victory.

The only difference was the former Indian captain had in fact signalled the Chinnaswamy crowd to keep quiet with the same ‘finger on the lips’ gesture.

After the match, a furious Gambhir had an aggressive handshake with Kohli, which can be seen in videos shared on social media.

The LSG mentor then hurled a mouthful at Kohli, drawing the RCB star into a heated exchange. From the video footage that has gone viral, it does appear that Gambhir was the one trying to charge at Kohli even as LSG players, including captain KL Rahul, tried to stop him multiple times.

Gambhir, 41, was fined 100% of his match fee for breaching the tournament’s code of conduct, organisers said in a statement, with Kohli handed a similar fine.

Both players admitted to their offence, they added.

Naveen was fined 50% of his match fee for his role in the altercation.

Bangalore and Lucknow are among five teams level on 10 points after nine matches, two points behind leaders and defending champions Gujarat Titans.