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Punjab Kings spinner Harpreet Brar has finally revealed what exactly happened during the heated on-field clash between him and Royal Challengers Bangalore star batsman Virat Kohli in IPL 2025.
Brar revealed that his discussion with the legend was not actually a dispute but a joke, as Kohli had seen some of the things the PBKS fielder was doing.
Harpreet Brar and Virat Kohli incident
During IPL 2025, both the teams played a one-day match in Mullanpur, which RCB won easily. RCB bowlers bowled brilliantly in the death overs and restricted PBKS to just 157 runs.
Devdutt Padikkal scored an aggressive 61 and Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 73 as the duo added 103 runs for the second wicket after RCB lost Phil Salt on the very first ball of the chase.
Harpreet Brar dismissed Padikkal in that game and finished with 1/27 in four overs, but could not prevent RCB from winning with 7 balls to spare.
During the chase, Kohli and Brar were seen exchanging words in Punjabi. Kohli reminded Brar that he has been playing for a long time and should not try anything sneaky.
Kohli told Brar, “It’s been 20 years, I know your coach too. Your hand has become very weak.”
“It’s a priceless memory for me” – Brar on Kohli
Harpeet Brar dismissed Virat Kohli for his first IPL wicket in 2021. He also took the wickets of AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell in that game to win the Player of the Match award.
Historically, Brar has had a very good record against RCB and has been used almost exclusively against the defending champions throughout his career.
Speaking to Indian women’s cricketer Harleen Deol on the PBKS podcast, Brar said that taking his first IPL wicket of Kohli will be a fond memory for him.
Harpreet Brar said, “It’s a big thing for me. I always feel lucky that I could perform well against them. The biggest thing is my first wicket. It’s a great memory for me.”
He then continued to describe the incident at that afternoon’s game and explained that it was not actually a heated argument.
“Actually, it was an afternoon match. So, we were trying to make sure that every throw we made was on the bounce. Our captain [Shreyas Iyer] We were asked to ensure that all throws were one-bounce. So, we were all doing it, but Paaji [Kohli] Didn’t say anything to them.”
“I threw the ball [Marcus] Stoinis, and he took a step back because he wasn’t sure whether to take it straight or on the bounce. Stoinis took a one-bounce throw and Virat bhai looked at me. I was standing at the point, and I could clearly see the non-striker’s end.”
“Paaji saw me standing there, so I decided that I shouldn’t look back at him. I thought that after the over was over, he would be busy doing something else. Then, I had to bowl the next over, and I was marking my run-up, and he came next to the crease and said, ‘I have been playing for 20 years.’ I said, ‘You’re taking it the wrong way.’ I did not make that throw intentionally,” said Harpreet Brar.
Brar further said that the one-bounce throw was actually a tactic to try to rough up the ball.
Harpreet Brar concluded, “The one-bounce throw strategy was to rough up the ball so that it would reverse swing for our fast bowlers in the death overs. But that match did not go to the death overs; it ended early.”
Harpreet Brar told the real story, why Virat Kohli got angry at him
– He said that it was Marcus Stoinis’s mistake as he collected the ball on bounce.
He further said, our captain had asked us to do this to swing the bowling in the death overs.@thisisbrar pic.twitter.com/IdbVn9QdYm– 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮 (@ThecoolMahi) 21 may 2026
Competition between Harpreet Brar and Virat Kohli in 2026 also!
During the PBKS vs RCB day game in Dharamshala this year, Kohli and Brar were once again involved in some humorous banter. During the incident, Kohli stood outside the crease and challenged Brar to run him out.
Ultimately Brar decided not to engage and did not attempt to run out.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Virat Kohli vs Harpreet Brar! RCB star challenges PBKS spinner to run him out during heated moment in IPL 2026