Respect beyond rivalry. A Rajasthan Royals (RR) player rushed to Rohit Sharma after the RR vs. Mumbai Indians (MI) match and greeted him, and Ritika Sajdeh, Rohit Sharma's wife, was present in the gallery then. 

The Royals player who approached Rohit Sharma after the match was Akash Madhwal, currently attached to the Pink City of India, formerly a Mumbai Indians player. Madhwal was in the MI squad in the IPL 2023 and IPL 2024 seasons. He started his Indian Premier League career under Rohit Sharma's captaincy; Madhwal still treated Sharma as his leader and guide, probably as an elder brother. The moment after the match between the two players was caught on camera and is now a popular content in the internet universe. 

Akash Madhwal, a right-arm medium-fast pacer from Roorkee, now 31, got his IPL debut match in 2023 when Sharma was the skipper and was with the Mumbai Indians. That season, the bowler played a total of 8 matches and took an impressive 14 wickets, including a 5-wicket haul, with an 8.58 economy rate. In the following season, Madhwal's form was not the same as IPL 2023. Played 5 matches and took 5 wickets, economy rate 11.28. Notably, Hardik Pandya was appointed as the captain, replacing Sharma in IPL 2024. 

Read More: Was MI vs RR match fixed? Here’s the full truth behind Rohit Sharma’s LBW controversy

Akash was decent, but RR performed the worst 

Mumbai Indians management did not show any intention to retain Akash before IPL 2025, then he joined Rajasthan Royals. Akash Madhwal was purchased by Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.2 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. So far in the ongoing IPL 2025, he has played only one match for RR, which was against the Mumbai Indians, his former team. Madhwal performed better than other Rajasthan bowlers against Mumbai in match 50 of IPL 2025. In his 4 overs limit, the right-handed pacer spent 39 runs, 9.75 economy rate.

Watch the adorable moment here

Akash Madhwal meets his Bhaiya ❤️

- A lovely video by Royals. pic.twitter.com/CFRlGuhS8h

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 2, 2025

Mumbai Indians batters were top of their game in the match, scoring 217 for only a couple of wickets. Royals scored only 117 in 16.1 overs in reply; MI won the match by 100 runs.