Indian captain Virat Kohli and Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain’s fierce verbal tussles and heated moments on a cricket field are well known to everyone, and even the two have enjoyed getting the better of each other by sledging over the years on the pitch.
The thrilling rivalry between Kohli and Rubel started with the opening game of the 2011 World Cup between India and Bangladesh when the dashing right-hander sledged the pacer by dishing out the choicest of words after he tried to throw the ball back at him.
Even the rivalry was continued in the second quarterfinal of the 2015 ODI World Cup in Melbourne when Rubel gave Kohli a fiery send-off after dismissing the latter, not only because this was a prized scalp but also because of his old rivalry with the India captain.
But actually, the thrilling rivalry between the two started in the U-19 tri-nation series in South Africa in 2008, as Hossain admitted his erratic relationship with Kohli dates back to their U-19 days during a live chat with Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal on Facebook.
The pacer further revealed that Kohli used to sledge players since his U-19 days. They have been playing against each other since their U-19 days and played against each other in the 2008 U-19 ICC World Cup, where Kohli led Team India to the title.
Hossain told Iqbal as quoted by Bdricitime: “My brawl with Virat is from our U19 days. We have played in the Under-19 World Cup together. Since then there has been a little conflict. He used to do a lot of sledging then. Maybe a little less in the national team, but at that time there was a lot of sledging.”
The pacer, who has played 155 International games across formats and claimed a total of 190 wickets so far, further revealed that Kohli had abused Bangladeshi batsmen during a match in that tri-nation series.
A smiling Rubel signed off by saying: “There was a match in South Africa, in a tri-national tournament. He was sledging a lot, abusing our batters who was coming down. We know how he was abusive.
There, I had an ugly fallout with him and abused him after he got out. Virat flipped his bat around and gave it back to me, charging towards me. I had an altercation with him and the umpire had to intervene to get things back under control.”
(With Bdricitime Inputs)
