The long-standing friendship between Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli is well-known. The duo played age-group cricket together since childhood in Delhi.
When they weren't playing for India, the two often exchange fun banter on the field during IPL clashes while also speaking highly of each other off the field.
Ishant is India's joint second-highest wicket-taking fast bowler in Test cricket while Kohli sits third in the list of all-time highest run-scorers across formats.
Add The Sporting News as a preferred news source
Kohli is widely regarded as one of the finest ever batters, but during an interview, the 37-year-old pacer chose two other players over his best friend.
Ishant Sharma snubs Virat Kohli to pick MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar
During one of his recent interviews with presenter Shefali Bagga, Ishant was made to play the famous This-or-that game.
While the fast bowler picked Virat Kohli over Kapil Dev, Shane Warne, Babar Azam, Rohit Sharma, Ricky Ponting, and AB de Villiers, he had to make a tough decision about MS Dhoni.
READ MORE: 'Dhoni and I will smoke together': Irfan Pathan on 'hookah' backlash
In the next round of options, he chose the legendary Sachin Tendulkar over Dhoni. With that, Ishant appeared to value his cricketing judgment over friendship. It could even be argued that Kohli himself would likely have picked both Dhoni and Sachin ahead of his own name.
The India star, who last played for India in November 2021, won the second edition of the Delhi Premier League by 6 wickets against Central Delhi Kings, chasing 174 runs in the final.
He also continues to play in the IPL for the Gujarat Titans and finished the recent campaign with 4 wickets in 7 appearances -- often as an impact substitute.
RELATED LINKS: