The much-anticipated clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday was expected to be a face-off between KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. Their first meeting since a heated exchange during a match in Lucknow last year had generated significant buzz. However, the two buried the hatchet with a hug during a timeout in the 16th over.
Observing Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir sharing a hug, Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar displayed their humour in the commentary box. Shastri suggested that the meeting between Gambhir and Kohli deserved a Fairplay award for both teams. In response, Gavaskar humorously suggested taking it a step further, proposing not just the Fairplay award, but also the Oscar award.
“Kohli and Gambhir should get not just the fair play award, but maybe an Oscar award as well,” Speaking on commentary Gavaskar said.
Footage of the incident at the Ekana Stadium, when Gambhir was a mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants, had been shown repeatedly in the lead-up to the match, with experts offering commentary. Additionally, a KKR video from the practice session in Bengaluru appeared to show Kohli staring at Gambhir. But during the timeout, Kohli and Gambhir shared a warm hug and a brief conversation, ending with smiles on both faces. Kohli was talking with a teammate while drinking water when Gambhir approached and initiated the hug.
On the field, Kohli continued his stellar form, scoring an unbeaten 83 to propel RCB to a competitive 182/6. However, KKR bowlers, especially Andre Russell (2/29), kept things tight. Despite Mitchell Starc's expensive outing (0/47), KKR pacers restricted RCB effectively.
The chase saw a brilliant opening stand by KKR's Narine (47) and Salt (30) who stitched together a quick 86-run partnership. Though the middle order stumbled briefly, Venkatesh Iyer (50) and Shreyas Iyer guided KKR home comfortably with 7 wickets in hand.
