Virat Kohli avoided a handshake with Australian cricketer Travis Head after Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League 2026 on Friday, May 22. Kohli and Head were involved in an earlier banter, and things escalated after the game as SRH went on to win it at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.ย
The tensions escalated after the game when players from both teams converged to shake hands. Kohli was leading RCB’s team out from the dugout as SRH skipper Pat Cummins took his team to the customary handshakes. The Indian star greeted Cummins and Abhishek Sharma before ignoring Head and went on to shake hands with the other SRH players.ย
Head offered his hand, waited for a brief moment for Kohli, but the RCB batter just went ahead to greet Ishan Kishan next before meeting the other players. The video of the incident went viral on social media.ย
Watch the Video here:
Why the handshake controversy?
The handshake controversy stemmed from an earlier banter between the two players. Kohli was batting in the middle when he had a brief verbal exchange with Head. The incident took place in the first over of RCB’s chase of 256. Kohli was seen gesturing for Head to come to bowl as Shivang Kumar took a beating as he conceded 14 runs from the opening over. Kohli signalled the impact sub gesture, emphasising that he used to get substituted when SRH bowl. Head was seen nodding to Kohli’s comments.
Earlier, in the first innings too, Kohli was seen celebrating animatedly when Head got out. The RCB batter yelled from his fielding position as Rasikh Dar Salam cleaned him up with a brilliant yorker.
SRH beat RCB but fail to confirm top two
SRH won the match by 55 runs after restricting RCB for 200 in their last league stage match of the tournament. The Sunrisers needed to win by 90 runs after posting 255/4 in Hyderabad to take their NRR ahead of the Gujarat Titans and push RCB’s NRR below. However, while the SRH won the match, they could not do enough to confirm their spot in the top two. RCB will finish at the top of the points table, while GT are second as the two will meet in Qualifier 1 at theย Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, on May 26.