After refusing Head handshake, Kohli proves he is at war with himself: Other instances in IPL when he lost his cool

Sometimes it appears Virat Kohli is forever at war with himself. How else could you explain his frequent outbursts at cricket matches?

Updated on: May 23, 2026, 12:06:23 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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On Friday night, a big controversy erupted after Virat Kohli refused to shake hands with Travis Head after RCB were crushed by SRH in their 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter.

Virat Kohli has stayed the same all these years. (PTI)

During the game, Kohli asked Head to come and bowl to him since he was not going to be substituted in the match, unlike many times before in the league. That's a massive dig. However, Kohli's batting couldn't keep up with his sledging as he shortly after fell for an 11-ball 15. At that point, Head retorted, "Mate, you are out before I can come to bowl."

Also Read: Explained: What happened between Virat Kohli and Travis Head that led to frosty post-match scenes

Over the years, Kohli has been involved in many heated confrontations with opposition players, playing for India or playing for RCB. Here, let's take a look at some of the controversies involving him in the IPL over the years.

1. Feud with Gautam Gambhir

In 2013, after getting out against Kolkata Knight Riders, Kohli exchanged fiery words with the then KKR captain. It took another guy from Delhi, all-rounder Rajat Bhatia, to separate them. Kohli and Gambhir have not been on great terms since. Even though they tried once after Gambhir became India head coach.

2. Another confrontation with Gambhir

In 2023, Gambhir was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants. During a RCB-LSG game, Kohli had a run-in with Afghan bowler Naveen-ul-Haq. Later, after the match got over, Gambhir confronted Kohli on the same issue, making their relationship reach a new low.

3. Tried to intimidate Suryakumar Yadav

In 2020, Kohli tried to intimidate Mumbai Indians' Suryakumar Yadav through a long stare. At that time, Surya was knocking on the doors of the national team. Kohli was the national captain, and many thought that was the end of Suryakumar as far as his India aspirations were concerned. However, things turned out differently.

4. The Shreyas Iyer displeasure

In 2025, in a game when RCB beat Punjab Kings, captained by Shreyas Iyer, Kohli put his feet wide apart and celebrated with vigour. With it, he also intended to mock Iyer, probably in jest. Iyer didn't take kindly to it, and later Kohli tried to explain to him that he was only doing it to tease him. That there was nothing more to it. But Iyer looked upset.

5. All hell broke loose after Rajat Patidar's dismissal

Earlier this season, Kohli was absolutely fuming that RCB captain Rajat Patidar was given out after a catch review against Gujarat Titans. The catch was taken by Jason Holder, and he appeared to have grassed it. Kohli was convinced the umpire had made a mistake. He confronted the match officials.

In other notable mentions in similar cases, in 2022, he fumed and smashed his bat after being given lbw off Dewald Brevis, who was then with Mumbai Indians. Then in 2024, he was upset after being given out off a ball that appeared waist-high from Harshit Rana. Upon reviewing it, it was not waist-high.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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