End of a freshly started controversy? At least Shubman Gill has tried to do so through his Instagram story with Hardik Pandya. The controversy started during the toss for the Mumbai Indians vs. Gujarat Titans (MI vs. GT) Eliminator match of the ongoing IPL 2025 and ended by Gill the next day, after the match where Mumbai won over Gujarat and knocked them out of the tournament.

It was all going well according to the plans. Captains from both teams, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya, came for the toss with smiling faces, took pictures together, and then did the toss. Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first, which proved absolutely on point when the match began.

After the toss, it was caught on camera that Pandya extended his hand for a ceremonial handshake to Gill, but Gill chose to turn his back and walk away. From there the controversy ignited. Fans and even commentators wondered to see the incident between these two Team India star cricketers.

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Gill tried to clear the clouds 

Later, after the match, Gill shared an Instagram story, tagging Hardik Pandya. He said, "Nothing but love. Don't believe everything you see on the internet."

See what he said on social media 

Shubman Gill's Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/wEzRWTMb6S

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 31, 2025

Against Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator match, Jonny Bairstow combined with Rohit Sharma to stitch an 84-run partnership in the opening wicket. While the English batter departed for 47 off 22, Rohit went strong and got 81 runs, which helped Mumbai Indians to post a mammoth 228 in the first innings. Sai Sudharsan tried to lead Gujarat to a heroic win, but they eventually fell short by 20 runs, and Mumbai Indians comfortably moved to the Qualifier 2 stage to face Punjab Kings.