The history between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir is secret to none. It, in fact, was among the major concerns raised when the latter was appointed as the new head coach of the Indian men's team earlier this month. The murmurs were even there in the BCCI headquarters. But days after Kohli reportedly assured the board that he is ready to put past feuds aside to have a better working relationship with Gambhir, the latter set the record straight on his equation with the former India captain ahead of a much-awaited reunion.

The first sign of a positive response from Kohli was making himself available for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, which will be played between August 3 and 7 in Colombo. The India top-order batter, along with Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah had sought a longer break from the sport after the T20 World Cup win. But at Gambhir's request, the two senior batters agreed to participate in the ODI contest, while Bumrah remained unavailable owing to workload management.

Later, a report in Cricbuzz revealed that Kohli communicated to the BCCI that he is ready to move on from his bitter past with Gambhir and work towards achieving greater things for Indian cricket. The report added that the discussions were held in Barbados after the T20 World Cup win against South Africa.

On Monday, ahead of the Indian team's departure for Pallekele, where they will play three T20Is, starting July 27, Gambhir was asked about his relationship with Kohli, but he chose not to dwell much on the subject. While he cheekily replied saying it was "good for TRP," he wasn't willing to "give headlines," as he stressed on the common cause of working hard for the India team and winning trophies during his tenure.

“Good for the TRP, but my relationship is not public. What kind of a relationship I share with Virat Kohli... I think it's between two mature individuals. On the field, everyone has got the right to fight for their own jersey and come back to a winning dressing room. But at the moment, we're representing India, representing 140 crore Indians and I'm sure we're going to be on the same page and try and make India proud. I share a very good relationship off the field and will continue to do that. But yes, to make it more public what kind of a relationship... I think it's between two individuals,” he said.

"I've had a lot of chats with him... we've shared messages after my appointment, but as I said, the most important thing is we both are going to be working extremely hard to make India proud. And that's our job. It's not important what we discussed, how many chats have I had with him, after my announcement or before my announcement or during the game, after the games. Sometimes, just because we want headlines, it's not important."

One of the most recent incidents of a feud between Kohli and Gambhir dates back to May 2023, when Lucknow's Ekana Stadium witnessed an ugly scene after an IPL game with the two former India teammates charging towards each other aggressively before being separated by their teammates. However, a year later, the two buried the hatchet with Gambhir hugging Kohli during an IPL game before the two were spotted sharing a light moment.

Later, Kohli, in an event organised by PUMA, took a dig trolls saying that he disappointed them by hugging Gambhir. "People are very disappointed with my behaviour. I hugged Naveen, and then the other day, Gauti bhai [Gautam Gambhir came and hugged me. Your masala is over, so you're booing. We're not kids anymore," Virat had said during a Puma event.