Virat Kohli’s tongue-in-cheek ‘Seeta aur Geeta’ twist to Shubman Gill-Ishan Kishan bromance leaves audience in splits

The bromance of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill is secret to none. They are India teammates who are often seen engaging in hilarious dressing-room banters, making social-media videos or cracking jokes at each other on Instagram.

More recently, despite being opponents in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where Ishan plays for Mumbai Indians while Gill is the Gujarat Titans skipper, the two were seen sharing a lengthy light-hearted discussion after the match.

Speaking at a recent public event, veteran India cricketer Virat Kohli opened up on Gill and Ishan’s friendship as he labelled them as identical twins.

“Bahut funny hain, Seeta aur Geeta (Ishan and Shubman). I have no clue what’s going on either. Can’t say much but these guy can’t stay alone during tours. If we got out for food, they will come together. During discussions as well, they are always together. I haven’t seen them alone. They are great friends,” Kohli said.

Seeta Aur Geeta is a famous Bollywood film, released in 1972, where the two protagonists are identical twins, portrayed by Hema Malini.

All the three players are currently in the midst of the 2024 season of the IPL.

Kohli is currently the leading run-getter in the tournament, having amassed 319 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 141.77. The run tally is laced with a century and two fifties. However, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the franchise Kohli represents, stand bottom of the table with only one win in six games so far, with their playoffs qualification chances in doubt.

Gill stands third in the Orange Cap list with 255 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 151.78, laced with two fifties. Gujarat, the champions of IPL 2022, stand sixth in the points table with three wins and as many losses in six matches.

Ishan, meanwhile, has scored 161 runs in five games for Mumbai Indians at a strike rate of 182.95 with one half-century. MI stand seventh in the table after bouncing back from hat-trick of losses to secure back-to-back wins.

All three players also stand in the fray to make the T20 World Cup squad for India with BCCI reportedly set to announce the team by the end of April. A recent report indicated that Kohli has already booked his place in the 15-member squad for the ICC event in June. Gill, meanwhile, battles for the opening spot in the line-up, while Ishan entered the race for the wicketkeeping spot, where he is competition with Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.