Both Pandya and Rahul were initially suspended by BCCI for their comments on Koffee With Karan, for which the pair, particularly Pandya, reserved widespread criticism.

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Speaking to esteemed commentator Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Pandya revealed the incident prompted the duo to take a month’s break from each other, but said there was no long-lasting impact on their friendship.

“KL is like a brother to me,” said Pandya. “We have gone up, had success together, and then go down in the same boat. And then came up differently. For me, after the suspension, I was back straight into the Indian team. But he had to go play for India A.

“So, why I respect him is that our friendship never got affected. Yes, we took one month off from each other because it was needed. The stress level was so much after the TV show controversy that I slept only one hour in 5-6 days.

“And that guy never changed for me. Yes, he became calmer but our friendship hasn’t changed even now. We still love each other the same before what happened. We still respect each other, and both know what kind of personalities we are.”