Batting icon Virat Kohli's fans mocked India great Sourav Ganguly after the latter refused to shake hands with the former following an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between their sides, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC).

 

Following the match between RCB and Delhi Capitals (DC), Virat Kohli gave a death stare to Sourav Ganguly while the Bengal-born left-hander refused a handshake with the Delhi-born cricketer. Some fans claimed Sourav Ganguly jumped the queue to avoid a handshake with Virat Kohli.

For the unversed, Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly share an acrimonious relationship after the former was sacked as India's ODI skipper when the latter was the BCCI president in 2022.

While Sourav Ganguly subsequently claimed that Virat Kohli was informed about the decision in advance, the 34-year-old accused the Bengali superstar of lying as he never told him to vacate his seat for Rohit Sharma.

Since then, the relationship between the ex-player and Team India and RCB talisman has broken down and they hardly wish each other on social media these days, which wasn't the same some time back.

However, Virat Kohli's supporters made fun of Dada on social media claiming that the DC's Director of Cricket Operations was hit by “Karma” as he had insulted the 34-year-old talisman during his stint as BCCI chief.

Following the controversy, former India head coach Ravi Shastri shared his views on the growing rift between Kohli and Ganguly.

“Depends on what my relationship is. If I don't want to talk, I'll just go past. But at the end of it, when you go and sit down, you feel that there's always some room to grow up, no matter how old you are,” Ravi Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.

Not known for mincing his words, Ravi Shastri voiced his support for Virat Kohli's return as the national team's captain in case Rohit Sharma was unavailable, especially during pressure-cooker games.

“Once Rohit was injured, I thought Virat would captain,” Shastri told ESPNcricinfo. “If I was still there – I'm sure Rahul [Dravid] might have done the same thing, I have not spoken to him – I would've recommended to the board that it's only fair he leads because he was captain of the team that was leading 2-1 in the series and probably could have got the best [out of the team].”

“If it's for a major game like that, I want Rohit to be fit, he is the captain. But god forbid something happens under unforeseen circumstances, definitely I'll look in that direction,” the former Team India all-rounder added.

Ravi Shastri reckons Virat Kohli is back to his best as he was now enjoying his cricket.

“He's in a very good space, enjoying his cricket,” Shastri said. “That's the feeling I got as opposed to the last year when we were sitting and discussing does he need a break, does he not need a break. He seemed to have the burden of the whole world on his shoulders.”

“Now it's refreshing. The enthusiasm, passionate energy and enjoyment have come back, which for me was the best thing to see. Runs you might or might not get but when you see someone, and the passion, enjoyment and drive is back again, it's good,” Ravi Shastri concluded.

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson labeled the whole saga as “rumor-mongering”.

“It could be rumor-mongering, but I'm not sure. So, it's not something I want to get involved in,” Shane Watson said on Grade Cricket's YouTube channel.

“But there was definitely some fire in Virat's belly, that's for sure. For an opposition point of view, that's the last thing you need as well. Virat, when he's like that, that's when he's at his absolute best. Whatever reason that was, I'm not exactly sure.”

Virat Kohli recently became the first batter to reach the 3,000 run mark at a single stadium in T20s. Overall the 34-year-old has made 3,015 runs in 92 knocks at Bengaluru's iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, LSG, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, LSG, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, RCB, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Indian Premier League,

Pawan Atri ·

Right behind the Delhi-born cricketer in the last are ex-Bangladesh skippers Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim.

In 121 innings, Mushfiqur Rahim has collected 2,989 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, and Mahmudullah has accrued 2,813 runs in 130 knocks at the same ground.

England's Alex Hales and Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal occupy the fourth and the fifth spots on the list. While the Englishman has made 2,749 runs in 90 innings in the shortest format in Trent Bridge, the Bangladeshi has completed 2,706 runs in Mirpur.

After RCB's loss to KKR on Thursday, Virat Kohli slammed his team's display. The talismanic batter said that his side “deserved to lose”.

“To be honest, we handed over the game to them,” Virat Kohli told Star Sports after RCB's loss. “We deserved to lose because we weren't professional enough in the field. The bowlers hit decent areas, but we didn't hold on to our chances. That's what you call a freebie in T20 cricket and we literally handed them a victory, which for me is not ideal because we take pride in the way we play and tonight we weren't up to standard and something we are not shy to admit.”

“With the bat, we set ourselves up really well and then [there were] so many soft dismissals,” Virat Kohli added. “Balls which are not wicket-taking balls but we ended up hitting it to fielders about four-five times in the innings. These are some of the soft plays in cricket which you want to avoid as a team. So when you do six-seven of those on a night, obviously you are going to be on the losing side.”

RCB head coach Sanjay Bangar was all praise for Virat Kohli.

“See, Virat Kohli is a cricketer on a different level. Whatever we speak about him might not be enough for him. He always tries to keep the game at a high level. His intensity on the field and the vibe he brings to the side is excellent to see. He always likes to step up and improve his game. Whether it is 20 overs, 50 overs or Test cricket, the intensity is always the same. He is a top-level personnel,” Sanjay Bangar told India Today.