'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It will be KL Rahul versus Hardik Pandya when the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) take on the Gujarat Titans (GT) in match number 30 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Saturday, April 22. The contest will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
While they will be opponents on the field, the two captains of the match share an amazing camaraderie as they are very good friends. Their bonding has had its share of ups and downs. Following their appearance on the famous chat show Koffee with Karan back in 2019, the duo [Hardik in particular] courted controversy for making some unsavory remarks about women.
The talented cricketers, however, overcame tough times in their friendship and remain very good pals. Both keep interacting on social media through various interesting posts when not on the cricket field.
As they take on each other in the IPL 2023 clash on Saturday, we revisit three Hardik-KL moments that show their bond.
#1 When Hardik and KL swapped jerseys
Swapping jerseys at the end of a match is a familiar sight in football. However, Hardik and Rahul won hearts by doing the same after an IPL 2018 match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as a mark of friendship and mutual respect.
Rahul was then with Kings XI Punjab (PBKS), while Hardik was representing Mumbai Indians (MI). In a pulsating encounter that went down to the last ball, the Mumbai Indians batted first and posted 186/6 on the board. In response, Punjab fought hard but finished on 183/5, going down by three runs.
Rahul and Hardik’s endearing gesture at the end of the game grabbed some of the limelight. The latter shared a video of the same with the caption:
“Play hard, play fair! Respect comes first. ✊🏽 Super knock, by a super player and an even better friend.”
Sharing his thoughts on the gesture, Rahul told iplt20.com:
"We've seen this happening a lot in football and Hardik and I are good friends. I felt it will be nice to collect some jerseys and bring that tradition to cricket as well. We didn't speak about his earlier. As we were talking, I said 'give me your jersey' and he wanted my jersey too. So, we exchanged jerseys. It's a nice, nice thing."
Speaking of the game, Rahul smashed a brilliant 94 off 60, opening the innings, but was dismissed in the penultimate over by Jasprit Bumrah.
#2 KL and Hardik’s toss banter
During the IPL 2022 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Rahul and Hardik had some fun banter at the toss, which was another illustration of their great camaraderie.
Rahul tossed the coin as Hardik called ‘heads’. The Gujarat Titans skipper won the toss, but Rahul was in the mood to pull his leg. He looked towards referee Narayanan Kutty and quipped:
“Tails bola hai na?” (He said tails right?)
Hardik was quick to respond with a loud ‘heads’. The two captains had a hearty laugh over the incident.
As for the result of the match, Gujarat Titans won the game by 62 runs. Batting first, GT put up 144/4 and then bundled out LSG for 82 in 13.5 overs.
#3 Rahul’s adorable video with Hardik’s son Agastya
Last year, Hardik shared a cute video of Rahul dancing with the GT skipper’s son Agastya on the popular song 'Waka Waka’. The video was taken by Athiya Shetty and was shared by Hardik on Rahul’s birthday.
While uploading the clip to his official Instagram handle, the all-rounder wrote:
"Happy birthday my bro. Only love from your two favourite boys. Vc: @athiyashetty.”
Rahul responded to the endearing post with a cheeky comment and wrote:
"Thank you bro. Aggy is my no.1 now sorry."
In the ongoing IPL season, LSG captain Rahul has scored 194 runs in six matches so far, at an average of 32.33 and a strike rate of 114.79.
As for Hardik, he has scored 49 runs in four games at a strike rate of 108.89. With the ball, he has picked up one wicket at an economy rate of seven.
