IPL 2023: Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli-Sourav Ganguly no handshake saga – There is always some room to grow up

In one of the pictures from the match, fans alleged that Kohli was giving a death stare to Ganguly who was sitting in the Delhi dugout near the boundary rope. Following the match, a video of Kohli and Ganguly, apparently avoiding a ceremonial handshake also went viral.

Reports have also suggested that the Kohli and Ganguly also unfollowed each other from their social media handles following the match which RCB won by 23 runs. An ESPNcricinfo anchor, without taking names, asked Shastri how about his way of dealing with a similar situation.

“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 told ESPNcricinfo.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson had said that he would not like to get into the matter but there was “definitely” some fire in the belly of Kohli.

Shane Watson, while speaking on Grade Cricket’s YouTube channel, said, “It could be rumour mongering, but I’m not sure. So, it’s not something I want to get involved in.

“But there was definitely some fire in Virat’s belly, that’s for sure. For an opposition point of view, that’s the last thing you need as well. Virat, when he’s like that, that’s when he’s at his absolute best. Whatever reason that was, I’m not exactly sure.”

Notably, a rift between Kohli and Ganguly has been reported ever since Kohli was sacked as the ODI captain of Team India. In an explosive press conference ahead of the South Africa tour in 2021, Kohli had denied Ganguly’s claim that he personally reached to him as the BCCI chairman and asked him to continue as the T20I captain.

Ganguly had said that selectors wanted one captain for white-ball formats and had Kohli listened to him, he would have continued as the ODI team captain as well. Following his sacking as ODI captain, Kohli also took the decision to step down as the Test team captain of India.