Kohli refuses Head handshake after heated Hyderabad-Bengaluru clash in IPL
Key takeaways
- Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 55 runs, leaving former India captain fuming.
- The two exchanged heated words when Kohli opened for Bengaluru, looking to chase down a daunting target of 256.
- Kohli also mockingly made the “impact player” substitution gesture, a reference to Head, who is primarily a batter, often being replaced by Hyderabad for a specialist bowler after the Australian finishes batting.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 55 runs, leaving former India captain fuming.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the Indian Premier League match [Mahesh Kumar/AP]By Reuters Published On 23 May 202623 May 2026Tempers flared between Virat Kohli and Travis Head in the Indian Premier League, as the former India captain refused to shake hands with the Australian batter after Head’s Sunrisers Hyderabad handed Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru a crushing 55-run defeat.
The two exchanged heated words when Kohli opened for Bengaluru, looking to chase down a daunting target of 256. During the exchange, a visibly angry Kohli was seen gesturing towards Head to come and bowl.