Virat Kohli's Savage 'Mankad' Sendoff To R Ashwin Has Everyone Choosing Sides

Jos Buttler must have enjoyed that sendoff from Virat Kohli to R Ashwin

Virat Kohli’s anger fuels his performances, we all know that. But if you have been following Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 closely, you will realise that Ravichandran Ashwin does not hold back his anger either. Yesterday’s high-scoring clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) had everyone on the edge of the seat.

Ashwin walked in to bat when KXIP needed 27 runs off the last over. Basically, he had to try and hit each and every ball out of the boundary to stay in the game. He succeeded in doing so by hitting a six on the first ball. On the next one he was caught at the boundary by RCB skipper.

Kohli gave him his usual sendoff with a twist. His animated celebration included the ‘mankading’ reference. The KXIP skipper was obviously livid at himself for getting out and probably at the team for not being able to close the game and lose the plot towards the end of runchase.

Not surprisingly, people started criticising Kohli  for the animated celebration.

However, they forgot that Ashwin’s sendoff to Kohli wasn’t peaceful either.

Poking the sleeping bear is never a good idea. Though Kohli’s actions cannot be justified, it was only a reaction to what happened in the previous game. Can you really blame someone like him for reacting?

However, Ashwin was mature enough to downplay the exchanges between him and Kohli in the post-match press conference. He said, “I just played with passion, so does he (Virat). That’s it. As simple as that,”.

ALSO READ: Why The CSK vs SRH Game Felt A Lot Like A Replay Of The IPL 2018 Final

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