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Ravi Shastri drops million-dollar statement on Kohli-Ganguly 'no-handshake' saga in IPL 2023
The former India head coach didn't mince his words as he talked about the ‘no handshake’ saga between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly.
Controversy erupted in the 2023 Indian Premier League last week when two of India's biggest cricketing stars, Virat Kohli and former captain Sourav Ganguly were seemingly at loggerheads. After Royal Challengers Bangalore's win over Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the two seemed to ignore each other and didn't shake hands; the video of the moment went viral on social media platforms and many believe the ‘rift’ – if it is indeed there – stems from the time when Kohli was the Indian captain under Ganguly's BCCI presidency.
Tensions began between the duo right after Kohli stepped down as T20I captain in October 2021; two months later, the star batter was removed as ODI skipper as well, with Rohit Sharma taking over the role. In January last year, Kohli also left his position as Indian Test captain, allowing Rohit to assume captaincy in all the three formats.
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Interestingly, it was reported that Kohli had unfollowed Sourav Ganguly on leading social media platform Instagram right after the game against DC, and that the former BCCI president returned the favour as well. With tensions growing between the two, Ravi Shastri was asked on whether he would want to diffuse the tension in the given circumstances.
During a chat on ESPNCricinfo, the anchor – without taking names – presents the same situation as the one between Kohli and Ganguly, and asked Shastri on how he would deal with it. The former India head coach had a rather blunt response.
“Depends on what my relationship is. If I don't want to talk, I'll just go past. But at the end of it, when you go and sit down, you feel that there's always some room to grow up, no matter how old you are,” Shastri said.
Shastri was Team India's head coach till the T20 World Cup in October-November 2021, and even as the duo of Shastri and Kohli (as captain) didn't lift an ICC trophy, they made India one of the best touring nations in the longest format of the game, and also played a major role in building the side's pace-bowling attack.
