Former South Africa: Former South Africa captain Dean Elgar shared a shocking incident from the Proteas’ tour of India in 2015 claiming that during the first Test in Mohali, a young Virat Kohli spat at him on the challenging pitch.
“Those wickets were jokes. Like playing on that… that surface there. And I came into bat and I was actually holding my own against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and Kohli, he like spat at me,” Elgar recalled on the “Banter, with The Boys” podcast.
On being asked if Kohli knew the meaning of the word, Elgar replied: “Yes, he did because de Villiers was his teammate at RCB, so he understood. And I said if you do that, I’ll … on this field, I’ll absolutely knock you out. Anyways, we are in India so you got to be a little bit cautious.”
Despite the heated exchange, Elgar acknowledged that Kohli later apologized during India’s tour to South Africa in 2017-18. “Two, three years later, Kohli pulled me aside and said, ‘Listen, can we go and have a drink after the series? I want to apologize for my actions.’ So we drank till 3 in the morning,” shared Elgar.
The incident marked a turning point in their relationship, showcasing the unpredictable dynamics of cricket rivalries. Elgar’s final Test against India earlier this month at Newlands in Cape Town, where he captained South Africa, ended with India winning the second Test to level the series 1-1.