A lot of eyebrows were raised when Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain gave a nasty send off to Indian batsman Virat Kohli during the World Cup quarter-final between India and Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday.
But it seems the two players have a history that goes back a few years; this wasn’t the first time the two had gotten into an altercation with each other. During the first match of the 2011 World Cup, Kohli had verbally abused Hossain after the pacer had threatened to throw the ball towards the Delhi cricketer.
It seems the memory of that moment was still fresh in Hossain’s mind, and when the opportunity arose to give something back to Kohli, he took it with both hands.
There are also reports that Kohli and Hossain had got into a quarrel when they were playing U19 cricket back in 2008, and that they have held a grudge against each other ever since.
Later in today’s match, when Hossain came out to bat, all the cameras were on Kohli to see if he’d give the Bangladeshi seamer a taste of his own medicine. But when Hossain was dismissed for a duck, Kohli just shook his head and didn’t show much emotion.
The MCG is, coincidentally, the same venue where Kohli had a spat with Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson just over a couple of months ago. The 26-year-old had been fired up back then after a Johnson throw had hit him on his body.
Related: Rape charges against Bangladesh cricket hero Rubel Hossain dropped
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