Before Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) played in the IPL 2024 on April 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, fans were treated to a sweet moment of friendship between two modern-day greats, Virat Kohli and Pat Cummins.
On the eve of the game, at the practice session, there was an exchange. While RCB was going through a rigorous training session, Cummins, the skipper of SRH, had just ended his batting session and was walking towards Kohli, who was sitting on the ground. They were conversing in a lighthearted manner.
RCB’s official ‘X’ handle posted a video in which Cummins made fun of the coach, saying he was making the pitch seem flat.
“I was making that wicket appear flat, according to the coach. Cummins stated, “That’s all I heard.” Virat Kohli was compelled to compliment Cummins on his extraordinary abilities and responded, “Pat, you are too good.
“You’re too good, Pat” 😅
No 🤫 needed! A bit of banter ahead of our game tomorrow. 😬
This is Royal Challenge presents RCB Shorts. #PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 #ChooseBold pic.twitter.com/n8wegdTjUt
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 24, 2024
RCB is mired deep in the points standings.
Remarkably, in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad between India and Australia, Cummins removed Kohli from the game. A short-pitched delivery from Cummins that also struck his stumps knocked Kohli’s bat off balance.
With just one victory in eight games, RCB is battling at the bottom of the standings. In contrast, SRH has been playing with a lot of confidence under Cummins’ direction, and they are presently in third place in the points table with five wins from seven games.
Also read: ‘You never know’—Will Jacks be hopeful of RCB’s playoff chances?
It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. With their opening match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, SRH amassed the highest-ever IPL score of 287/3. Although they lost the game by 25 runs, the home team did manage to reach the target.