Virat Kohli refuses handshake with Australian Travis Head after spat at IPL match

Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 55-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad, tempers flared during the post-match handshakes when RCB star Virat Kohli refused to shake hands with SRH's Australian batter Travis Head.

As the teams lined up to shake hands after the match, Head held out his hand, but Kohli looked straight ahead and walked past him.

The two players were involved in a heated exchange during the match when Kohli came out to open the batting for RCB. During the chase of SRH’s daunting target of 256, the former Indian captain was seen visibly angry and gesturing towards Head to come and bowl.

Kohli also mockingly made the “impact player” substitution gesture, a reference to Head, who is primarily a batter and is often replaced by Hyderabad for a specialist bowler after the Australian finishes batting.

Head, however, did not have much time to take Kohli up on his invitation, as the Bengaluru opener fell soon after, scoring 15 off 11 balls. The Australian, however, bowled an over later in the game and dismissed Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar.

Friday's win left third-placed Hyderabad level on points with Bengaluru, although Kohli's side remained at the top of the table thanks to a superior net run rate. Both teams have qualified for the IPL playoffs, which begin on Wednesday.