IPL 2023 Playoffs Scenario: How Can Virat Kohli-Powered Royal Challengers Bangalore Meet Gautam Gambhir’s Lucknow Super Giants Again

Royal Challengers Bangalore need to win both their remaining matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans to reach the IPL 2023 Playoffs.

Source: Twitter

Delhi Capitals (DC) win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday night has opened the door for a possibility of another explosive clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing IPL 2023. But for that to happen once again, RCB need to win both their remaining matches, starting with the first one against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday night.

RCB are currently in 5th position on the IPL 2023 Points Table with 12 points in 12 matches so far. A couple of wins over SRH and Gujarat Titans in their last match will take them to 16 points and help them qualify for the Playoffs. For a RCB vs LSG Playoff game to take place, Krunal Pandya’s Lucknow side need to lose to Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game.

Apart from this MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings also need to win their last game against Delhi Capitals on Saturday while SRH need to beat Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium this weekend. If all of these scenarios take place, then fans can expect another explosive in a ‘do-or-die’ Eliminator match next week.

RCB Vs LSG in the Eliminator if:

- RCB beat both SRH and GT.
- CSK beat DC.
- KKR beat LSG.
- SRH beat MI.
- DC or RR beat PBKS. pic.twitter.com/vs78xJt9uU — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 17, 2023

The last match between RCB and LSG ended with ugly scenes off the field with a clash between RCB batter Virat Kohli and Lucknow mentor Gautam Gambhir. Both Kohli and Gambhir were fined 100 per cent of their match fees after the match while LSG pacer Naveen-ul-haq was also docked 50 per cent of his match fees.

The incident came 10 years after their altercation in the IPL during RCB’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru. Kohli now plays for RCB as a batter after giving up captaincy to Faf du Plessis in 2022, and Gambhir is retired and works as the global mentor with KL Rahul-led LSG.

While the players were shaking hands after the game, there seemed to be words exchanged between LSG bowler Naveen-ul-Haq and Kohli. This was followed by Gambhir pulling away his side’s opening batter Kyle Mayers from a chat with Kohli.

All hell broke lose after that as Gambhir was seen approaching Kohli aggressively with his players, including the injured captain KL Rahul and Amit Mishra, restraining him. With the two facing off, Kohli was seen attempting to pacify Gambhir but rather than cooling off, the matter started to boil over before Amit Mishra stepped in and separated the duo.