See How Pakistan Cricket Player Message Led To Viral Asia Cup Moment
After his on-field spat with Gautam Gambhir during the Indian Premier League 2023, Agha Salman revealed that he texted Virat Kohli, and it later led to one of the most viral moments of the Asia Cup 2023. In a recent interaction with Islamabad United, Salman said that he sent a DM to Kohli after the India star batter was involved in a verbal altercation with Gambhir after a match between Royal Challengers Bangalore. While he did not reveal the exact details of his message, Salman said that he has huge respect for Kohli, and he started the text with "Kohli bhai.".
Salman said, “I have so much respect for Virat Kohli; I don’t think there is any cricket fan in the world who doesn’t respect him. I texted him. I am not going to tell you the complete details, but I will just tell you the start. It started with ‘Virat Bhai’, I texted him when he had a fight with Gautam Gambhir [during IPL 2023].”
He also said during the interaction, “I, Abdullah Shafique, and Usama Mir were sitting together and watching a match; I think New Zealand were playing a series against Pakistan back then. There was nothing [negative] in that message that would make people think I said something bad.”
Salman also explained how his text went on to create one of the most viral moments of the Asia Cup 2023 when Kohli visited the Pakistan dressing room ahead of their match.
He said, “I mistakenly told Shadab Khan about texting Virat. You have watched the video of me, Shadab, and Virat standing together [during the Asia Cup 2023]. Actually, at that time, Shadab had told Virat that he [I] texted him.”
“We had a bit of laughter after I told Virat that I texted you this; he then told me he may have missed the message as he receives thousands of messages every day. It was all Shadab’s doing [telling Kohli].”