Virat Kohli is known for his passion, aggressiveness and spirited reactions on the cricket pitch. The Indian Test captain also occasionally loses his temper and has been seen expressing his dissent against the referees on the pitch itself. A day ago he and teammates KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Ravi Ashwin took their displeasure on broadcasters after TV reruns deemed it controversial that South African skipper Dean Elgar was not out despite seeking the ball to crash directly into the stumps with the naked eye. There was a lot of talk on the pitch and Kohli was heard hitting back at the broadcaster saying: “Also focus on your team and not just the opponent, trying to catch people all the time.” Rahul also joined him.
However, it was not the first time that Kohli lost his temper on the pitch and reacted like he did against South Africa in the third Test. In this article, we’ll look at five other instances where India’s Test captain let himself off the hook and didn’t hesitate to argue with the referees.
1) Kohli goes up in the Erasmus Swamp: This also happened in the third test match against South Africa. Mohammed Shami was reprimanded by referee Marais Erasmus after spotting the bowler landing in the danger zone. And Kohli was not happy about it. He approached Erasmus and showed his displeasure with the decision after replays showed Shami failed to step into the danger zone after throwing that particular ball. But later, an extended replay showed that Shami had indeed trudged through the danger zone before launching the delivery he had been warned about.
2) IPL Eliminator 2021:
Kohli was at his furious best this time, not with the bat though. The then Royal Challengers Bangalore campaign approached referee Virender Sharma and expressed anger after the latter failed to judge Rahul Tripathi of Kolkata Knight Riders despite the ball hitting him flat in front of the stumps. The decision was overturned when Kohli conducted a review, but the 33-year-old was unhappy with the referee’s mistake. RCB then lost the game, in Kohli’s last game as franchise skipper.
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3) Unhappy with the decision regarding Joe Root: Kohli once again carried it past the referee after England captain Joe Root was ruled not out with “the referees’ call” despite the ball hitting the top of the stumps. The ‘referees’ call’ decision saved Joe Root but a displeased Kohli yelled at the referee from a distance and also expressed his displeasure by throwing his cap away.
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4) Rain rain, go away! This one is during a T20I against Australia in Melbourne. The rain had already started to fall and it happened on the 19th when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling. With the referees showing no signs of stopping play, Kohli was seen walking towards the referee and arguing with him. He was not in a good mood at all because at that time it was raining pretty well so the game was called off. And it finally did.
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5) Change places?
This happened in India’s last Test series against New Zealand, in which the team won 1-0. Virat Kohli returned as team captain in the 2nd and final Test of the series and he was seen expressing his displeasure with the referee. The ball, thrown by Axar Patel, missed Ross Taylor’s bat and even goalkeeper Wriddhiman Saha but the referee gave him four runs, thinking he must have made contact with the bat. Kohli wasn’t angry but was surely upset when he was heard saying, “Ye kya karte hain yaar ye log yaar… Main udhar aajata hu tum idhar aajao (What are these guys doing. Let me come over there and you come here).
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Kohli has always been quite vocal on the pitch, whether encouraging his team to boost morale or expressing his disappointment. His comments directed at the broadcaster of the India v South Africa series, picked up by a stump mic, however, did not go down well with netizens slamming him for his reaction.
(The story above first appeared on LatestLY on January 14, 2022 at 5:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle , log in to our website latestly.com).
