Bengaluru, Mar 30: Putting all apprehensions, negativity and anxiety to rest, they greeted each other with a warm hug.
Impressed with their 'peace-making' gesture, which implied that both of them had decided to bury their previous differences and rebuild their friendship, cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar stated, "'They deserved an Oscar Award".
Why did Gavaskar made such a remark. That definitely is bound to create interest among cricket fans across the globe. The social media too have welcomed their 'hug' with positive responses.
No doubt, they are two big stars of cricketing world. They played from the same state team for years together. They were core team members of Team India for long. They even had jointly won the 2011 ODI World Cup for India.
Although, they had jointly scripted several wins for Delhi men's cricket team and Team India as well, but they often crossed swords, lost tempers and had war of words during Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
Well, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir played enough cricket together for Delhi and India. As premier batters, the two stalwarts of Indian team and Delhi as well, were not known for any animosity between them for years.
But the IPL history reveals something interesting. Both Gambhir and Kohli have not been best of friends when they faced each other during IPL.
The last instance that immediately reminds of their rivalry is in 2023, when Gambhir was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Kohli played against LSG. The both did have a showdown, and the incident surely was widely discussed.
Perhaps realising their strained relationships in the IPL, former Team India pacer Varun Aaron had remarked that Gambhir's presence in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)'s dugout may fire up Kohli to perform better.
Ahead of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) match, there was a lot of talk about the strained relations between them, which seems to have ended when the two hugged and made up on Friday.
Before the start of Friday's clash, Gambhir, who has taken over as mentor of the KKR team, told the official broadcaster that RCB is the only team he wanted to beat every time, even in his dreams.
"One team I wanted to beat every time and probably even in my dreams was RCB...The second-most high-profile team and flamboyant team with the owner and with the squad; Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers," Gambhir told official broadcaster Star Sports.
However, everyone was surprised when the official broadcaster showed visuals of Gambhir and Virat Kohli apparently burying the hatchet and embracing and having a brief interaction during the match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Both of them were shown interacting during the second strategic time-out of the Bengaluru innings as Gambhir hugged Kohli left the field and had a brief cordial interaction.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan credited Gambhir for his attempt to break the ice, while the social media too reacted positively to the two stars, who were part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup at home, burying their controversial past.
"Gautam Gambhir, the senior guy, actually came forward. Sometimes you cross the line but as soon as that thing has gone past, when you meet in the future, when you meet now, you meet nicely. This is what we saw", said Pathan on Star Sports.
The official broadcaster Star Sports took to social media to put out pictures of what it called the "reunion".
"Internet, were you ready for this reunion?" Star Sports wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Perhaps, delighted with the developments, Gavaskar said Kohli and Gambhir need an "Oscar Award" for their heart-warming exchange during Friday's match. (With IANS support)
