The iconic match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at Wankhede was full of surprises and thriller, but the biggest surprise came after the match ended.
Cricket news: We have all seen it in football, then why not start it in cricket, says Rahul
The visitors Punjab may have lost the match, but their wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul and Mumbai’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya was involved in a heart-warming scene as both the cricketers exchanged their jerseys after the match.
After the jersey swap, both of them embraced each other which was an absolute delight to see. The incident grabbed many eyeballs from all over the world.
Later Pandya was seen helping Rahul to adjust his shirt. The tradition of exchanging jerseys is very much common in the game of football, but this is the first time it has happened in cricket.
When Rahul was asked about the incident, he said that the whole incident was not at all pre-planned and he wishes to bring this jersey-exchange ritual in cricket as well.
“Look we’ve seen this happening in football and obviously Hardik and I are good friends and I felt it would be nice to collect some jerseys and then bring the tradition to cricket as well. We didn’t speak about this earlier and as we’re talking now, I said give me your jersey and he wanted my jersey too and so we exchanged jerseys, it’s a nice thing,” Rahul said during the interview.
Rahul is currently the orange cap holder as he is the leading run-scorer of the tournament so far. In this match too he scored 94 runs but could not guide his team safely over the line.
However Rahul said that although he has a very cordial relationship with Hardik, but both of them are very competitive when it comes to the matter of 22 yards.
“That’s the beauty of the IPL that we play really hard to win. Though we play 300 days of cricket together, during the two months when we play IPL, there’s no friendship once we step on to the field. I want to take him down, he wants to take my wicket. That’s how the event is.
It’s not just between me and him, but all the eight teams compete by heart and that’s what makes it the biggest tournament in the world,” Rahul concluded.