Watch: Kohli extends his arms, whispers in Dhoni’s ears; video breaks internet | Cricket

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, cricket’s two biggest icons, came together as rivals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 clash at the iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday. Despite standing in opposite camps, the two maintained the camaraderie they share and an episode of it was seen after the match, which Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won by eight runs.

As the teams lined up to shake hands after CSK beat RCB in a hard-fought contest, there was a special moment shared between Kohli and Dhoni. Seeing the legendary India skipper, under whom Kohli made his international debut in all formats, the RCB great stopped and gave a warm hug before moving forward to shake hands with the rest of the CSK team members.

The bonhomie between the two legends of Indian cricket did not end there. They got together on the sidelines and engaged in a fun conversation as Kohli was also caught chuckling before the camera panned towards Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis, who was then speaking to television broadcasters after claiming the Orange Cap.

The moment was an instant hit among the fans, with most calling the duo GOATS. IPL too shared the video on their official social media channels and wrote: “A legendary duo”.

The two modern-era legends, who once shared a common dressing room with the national side, are known to be great friends, with Kohli also hailing Dhoni’s contribution in his journey from time to time.

The RCB batter had also informed mediapersons earlier that it was only Dhoni, who had reached out to him after he stepped down from the Test captaincy.

Bashing the critics, when Kohli was going through a long stretch of the lean patch, Kohli had then said: “When I left my Test captaincy, only Dhoni called me, nobody else did, even though many had my number.”

“There is a certain amount of respect and connection you have with someone and if it is genuine it shows. It also shows there is security in the relationship – if I want to suggest something to somebody, I will reach out to them personally and tell them what I think and what needs to be done, rather than publically going and speaking about it,” he added.

Both Kohli and Dhoni were integral parts of the Indian cricket team and lifted the 2011 ICC World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy together. While Kohli was initially Dhoni’s deputy, the former took charge in all three formats after the wicketkeeper decided to step down from the position.

In fact, Dhoni also made quite a few appearances under Kohli’s captaincy before playing his final match for India at the 2019 ICC World Cup in England, which ended in a heartbreaking loss to New Zealand in the semi-final.

Meanwhile, coming back to the IPL clash on Monday evening, both CSK and RCB put up a brilliant show with the bat, but CSK’s 226/6 eventually proved to be a little too much for RCB, who could manage 218/8 in response before running out of deliveries.

Both Dhoni and Kohli had a mediocre outing as the CSK skipper almost threw away the match by failing to hold onto a simple caught-behind off Tushar Deshpande’s bowling against Du Plessis.

Kohli, on the other hand, will blame his luck after an inside edge first hit his pads and then slowly rolled towards the stumps to dislodge one of the bails in the first over of the chase.