Virat Kohli‘s refusal to shake hands with Travis Head after the conclusion of the IPL 2026 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad has set the cricket world ablaze. However, a lot happened on the field before the situation deteriorated to the point where Kohli outrightly refused to shake Head’s hand. More often than not, Kohli advocates leaving on-field matters on the field, but Friday night’s incident was a rare exception. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who was on commentary duty when the incident took place, has now explained what really transpired.
Speaking on JioStar, Irfan explained how the banter between Kohli and Head escalated to the point that the RCB batter challenged the SRH star to bowl, pointing out that he was not an ‘Impact Player’ in this match.
“Yes, I was commentating at that time. Look, Virat also likes to play cricket the way the Australians do. A little banter, a little aggression, a little talk of ‘okay, come and bowl a few deliveries.’ That’s what he was saying: ‘You are not an Impact Player.’ Generally, he is an Impact Player, and he goes off the field. He asked him to bowl, something happened, and he was calling him out as well. Look at what happened after the game-I am not going to talk much about that. But what happened on the field is okay, it happens. You want to play aggressively, you want to wear your heart on your sleeve, and that brings a little banter and aggression.”
Irfan also noted that Kohli’s decision to skip the handshake with Head could have been avoided. “This could have been avoided,” he added.
You could easily notice that every time Venkatesh Iyer found the boundary, Kohli kept throwing Travis Head-related gestures. He sparked the whole drama himself, didn’t even shake hands afterward.
His arrogance is on another level.
pic.twitter.com/HEnvHnLjEw— Yorker__93™ (@Boom__93) May 23, 2026
While a total of two battles have taken place between SRH and RCB in the IPL 2026 season so far, another one could take place, as both teams have qualified for the playoffs. It was the Bengaluru franchise that won the first battle, while Hyderabad came out on top the second time.
If these two teams square off again, it’s a given that Virat Kohli will be fired up to deliver with the bat, especially after what happened on Friday, when he could only score 15 runs off 11 balls.