Irfan Pathan There is weight in the exchange of field on fire between Virat Kohli And Travis Head during the IPL 2026 clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, saying that Kohli thrives on “Australian-style intensity” while playing the game.The heated moment became one of the biggest talking points of the match after Kohli looked visibly agitated during RCB’s chase of 256 and later ignored Head during the post-match handshake.Speaking on JioHotstar, Pathan described the incident as a natural consequence of high-pressure cricket and competitive emotions during an important IPL match.“Virat Kohli has always enjoyed playing cricket with that aggressive Australian-style intensity, a bit of swagger, competitiveness and emotion on the field,” Pathan said.“During that moment, he was telling Travis Head to throw some balls instead of staying off the field as an impact substitute.”Pathan added that such verbal exchanges are common in elite-level cricket, especially when teams are fighting for key playoff positions.“These kinds of exchanges are quite natural in high-pressure games, especially when both teams are fighting for a key position on the points table. In the end, it was just part of the intensity and competitive spirit that comes with high-level cricket.”
Kohli ignoring the head during the handshake line.
After the match ended, the tension between the two players increased.As the players lined up for the traditional post-match handshake, Head extended his hand to Kohli. However, the former RCB captain seemed to ignore the Australian opener completely, walking past him without acknowledging the gesture. Kohli, though, was seen giving a warm welcome to other SRH players, including captain Pat Cummins and opener Abhishek Sharma.The incident quickly went viral on social media, with fans debating whether Kohli’s reaction went too far or simply reflected the intensity of the competition.SRH dominates RCB in high-scoring clash.On the field, SRH produced a dominant all-round performance to beat RCB by 55 runs.Batting first, the Pat Cummins-led team piled up a mammoth 255/4 thanks to explosive innings from Ishan Kishan (79), Abhishek Sharma (56) and Henrik Klaasen (51). Nitish Kumar Reddy also made a late breakthrough with an unbeaten 29 runs.RCB started their chase aggressively through Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 44 off just 19 balls, but regular wickets derailed the chase. Skipper Rajat Patidar scored 56 runs while Krunal Pandya remained unbeaten on 41, but RCB eventually finished on 200/4. Young pacer Ishan Malinga starred with the ball for SRH, taking 2/33 in a commanding win that helped Hyderabad clinch third position in the IPL 2026 points table.
