Watch: KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya jersey-exchange video goes viral, sets Twitter abuzz
MI went on to stun KXIP by three runs in a last-ball finish on Wednesday as they stayed in the hunt for a place in the playoffs.
Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is very often considered to be a platform where young, future cricketers showcase their talent for various franchises.
The ongoing 11th season of the tournament, too, have seen the likes of Mayank Markande, Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill prove their mettle in the bigger stage.
On the field, there are fierce rivalries, but off the field there are some friendly chatters.
That was the situation after the Mumbai Indians-Kings XI Punjab match at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday.
After the match, MI’s Hardik Pandya and KXIP’s KL Rahul took some time off to exchange their IPL jerseys- A practice which is followed by footballers after the end of a game.
The photo was tweeted by IPL’s Twitter handle, and since has gone viral.
.@hardikpandya7 and I want to bring jersey-swap ritual to cricket: @klrahul11 tells @Moulinparikh
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2018
The in-form opener talks about the sweet gesture post a hard-fought game and their wish to popularise this act of sportsmanship.
â–¶ï¸https://t.co/D0TweKDa66 pic.twitter.com/OVgsJg2tRL
Hardik Pandya, too, took to Twitter to share a video.
Play hard, play fair! Respect comes first. ✊ðŸ½
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) May 17, 2018
Super knock, by a super player and an even better friend @klrahul11 #MIvKXIP @mipaltan @lionsdenkxip pic.twitter.com/dNvF7BUqn0
“We’ve seen this happening a lot in football. Hardik and I are good friends, and I felt like it would be nice to collect some jersey and bring this tradition into cricket as well,” Rahul said in a video uploaded in the IPL website.
MI went on to stun KXIP by three runs in a last-ball finish as they stayed in the hunt for a place in the playoffs. KL Rahul’s innings of 94, however, went in vain as KXIP were given a huge blow in terms of their playoff hopes.
While Ravichandran Ashwin’s men face MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their final league game on Sunday, Rohit Sharma and co travel to Delhi, where they face Delhi Daredevils earlier in the same day.