‘I texted Virat Kohli when he had a fight with Gautam Gambhir’: Pakistan batter’s DM that sparked viral Asia Cup moment

Neither was going to back down; it was that intense and it required multiple individuals – from umpires to players – to pull them away from each other. As the most controversial moment of IPL 2023, Kohli and Gambhir were slammed for their behaviour, which many former cricketers felt was unbecoming of two of India’s champion cricketers and more importantly, former teammates.

The news of Kohli and Gambhir’s altercation spread across borders, prompting Pakistan batter Agha Salman to send an Instagram DM to Virat in the aftermath of the spat. Salman, in an interaction with Islamabad United touched upon the topic and although he did not reveal his exact message to Kohli, the 30-year-old did share some details.

“I have so much respect for Virat Kohli, I don’t think there is any cricket fan in the world who doesn’t respect him. I texted him, I am not going to tell you the complete details but will just tell you the start. It started with ‘Virat Bhai’, I texted him when he had a fight with Gautam Gambhir [during IPL 2023],” Salman said.

“I, Abdullah Shafique and Usama Mir were sitting together and watching a match, I think New Zealand were playing a series against Pakistan back then. There was nothing [negative] in that message that would make people think I said something bad.”