'People are disappointed, masala over': Virat Kohli on hugging Gautam Gambhir

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first match against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 hogged the limelight not only for cricketing reasons but also for a photograph that went viral.

It was of Virat Kohli hugging Gautam Gambhir. The two were involved in an altercation last year when RCB had clashed against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) whose mentor was Gambhir. It turned out to be a massive controversy and one of the lasting images of that edition of the IPL. LSG pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was also involved in the heated argument.

Termed as arguably one of the ugliest spats in IPL history, Kohli’s bust-up with Naveen and Gambhir took the world by storm. Therefore, when the two former Indian teammates came face to face this year everyone was expecting that the record would be set straight. However, what happened was totally unexpected. When RCB hosted KKR cricket enthusiasts could not believe their eyes as they spotted Kohli and Gambhir hugging each other and burying the hatchet. This marked the culmination of one of the most talked-about rivalries in Indian cricket.

Praise for gesture

Earlier, Kohli had hugged Naveen during a ODI World Cup 2023 match. However, the former Indian skipper has now revealed that people’s reaction to his hugs. “People are disappointed by my behaviour. I hugged Naveen. Then the other day Gauti bhai came and hugged me. Because your masala got over, you are booing. We are not kids anymore,” Kohli said at an event, where the people started shouting as he mentioned the name of Gambhir while replying to a question.

While Kohli might feel people are disappointed, former Indian cricketers have lauded the gesture. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri and former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan were among them. “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,” Irfan said on Star Sports.

Scoring big for RCB

Meanwhile, Kohli seems to have put his entire focus on scoring runs for RCB in the IPL and he is undoubtedly succeeding at it. He is the only centurion of IPL 2024 thus far with a 67-ball hundred against Rajasthan Royals. Having scored 316 runs at an average of 105 and strike-rate of 146, Kohli is leading the Orange Cap standings by a fair clip.

He began his IPL campaign with a scratchy 21 against CSK before finding his groove with back-to-back 50s against Punjab Kings and KKR. He scored his 8th IPL century, but unfortunately his red-hot form isn't enough for RCB as the team is grappling with sole triumph from five matches. Kohli returns to the Wankhede Stadium, a venue he has had an instrumental amount of success at with 331 runs, to face the Mumbai Indians on Thursday.