Ravi Shastri. (Source – Twitter/X)
India and Bangladesh rivalry took a new turn when Mushfiqur Rahim celebrated prematurely in a T20 World Cup 2016 game which India won eventually. During the same tournament, he posted a controversial post when India lost to West Indies in the semi-final. In the ongoing first Test between both countries, the former Bangladesh skipper tried to forge a new rivalry between Virat Kohli and Rahim.
Both the batters had a forgetful outing in the first innings of the Test. While in the commentary panel, Tamim anticipated a heated exchange between two veterans, he was cut short by Ravi Shastri’s quick query. The southpaw expected some drama in the middle and labelled the players to have some history, following Shastri grilled him asking a few questions.
Here’s a snippet of the conversation:
Tamim Iqbal: Mushfiqur Rahim is batting, Virat Kohli is in the slips. Watch out now. Keep an eye on them. They have quite the history.
Ravi Shastri: What history?
Tamim Iqbal: Oh, you know, Ravi. You know what history I am talking about. (Laughs)
Harsha Bhogle: Ah, well left Tamim. I guess Mushfiqur has a bit of history with everyone.
I never sledge Kohli because he gets pumped up by that: Rahim
The sporting rivalry between the two nations intensified during the Asia Cup final between the two nations where the famous ‘Snake Dance’ celebration emerged. While in India for the World Cup 2023, Rahim shedding light on the simmering hype, stated that Kohli always tries to sledge him and his teammates.
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“Some batters in the world love sledging and get pumped up by that. So I never sledge him because he gets pumped up by that. I always tell my bowlers to get rid of him as early as possible. Whenever I play against him, he always tries to sledge me every time I go in to bat because he is a really competitive guy, and he doesn’t want to lose any cricket match. I really love that rivalry with him and the challenge that comes with facing him and India,” Rahim had said previously.