IPL 2023: Last week, the 2023 Indian Premier League was marked by controversy as two of India’s most prominent cricketing figures, Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly, appeared to be at odds. Following the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s victory over the Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli and Ganguly did not shake hands and seemed to ignore each other.
The incident was captured on video and quickly went viral on various social media platforms, with many speculating that the tension between the two comes from Kohli’s time as Indian captain under Ganguly’s presidency of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Tensions between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly began after Kohli stepped down as T20I captain in October 2021. Two months later, he was removed as ODI skipper as well, with Rohit Sharma taking over the role. In January 2022, Kohli also stepped down as the Indian Test captain, allowing Rohit to assume the captaincy in all three formats. It was reported that Kohli was forced to give up his ODI captaincy by the Ganguly-led BCCI.
Ravi Shastri opens up on the Kohli-Ganguly feud
Reports emerged that Kohli had unfollowed Ganguly on Instagram immediately after the IPL game against the Delhi Capitals and that Ganguly had returned the favor by doing the same. With tensions between the two appearing to escalate, former India head coach Ravi Shastri was asked how he would diffuse the situation.
During an interview with ESPNCricinfo, the anchor presented a hypothetical scenario similar to the situation between Kohli and Ganguly and asked Shastri how he would handle it. Shastri responded bluntly.
‘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,’ Shastri said.
Shastri was the head coach of Team India until the T20 World Cup in October-November 2021. Despite not winning an ICC trophy during his tenure with Kohli as captain, the duo led India to become one of the best touring teams in the longest format of the game and played a crucial role in developing India’s pace-bowling attack.
Image: BCCI/Twitter
