Kohli loses cool at reporter in heated exchange at Melbourne Airport

Indian superstar Virat Kohli has been involved in a verbal altercation with a female reporter at Melbourne Airport.

A day after the third Test in Brisbane ended in a draw which kept the five-match Border-Gavaskar series level at 1-1, Indian and Australian players flew into Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Reporters were speaking to Australian pace bowler Scott Boland, who is highly likely to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in Melbourne, when Kohli and family members were spotted nearby.

Cameras turned to get a shot of Kohli before the Indian batsman became agitated. Kohli appeared to take exception to his family being filmed in a public place.

Kohli berated a Channel Nine reporter and got in her face in a heated exchange that played out in front of other members of the media. Though the cameraman was the one who got the shot – with other media present – Kohli targeted one reporter in particular.

The Indian team has been contacted for comment.

Kohli scored a second-innings century against Australia in the first Test in Perth but has been underwhelming at other times in the series, posting scores of 5, 7, 11 and 3.

India were comprehensively outplayed during the second Test in Adelaide and were lucky not to lose the third Test at the Gabba, with rain ultimately proving their saviour.

Former Australian Test captain Allan Border questioned Kohli’s form after the Indian star made just three runs at the Gabba and edged a wider delivery in India’s first innings.

“Today’s dismissal, that’s normally a delivery he would have left alone if he was in his best possible form,” Border said on Fox Cricket’s coverage. “I’m not sure what’s going on with Virat mentally [and] whether he’s just lost that edge.”

Kohli, who has 270 million Instagram followers, has always attempted to keep his family away from the public eye.

A report in the Indian Express last month highlighted as much.

“Celebrity couple Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have always stayed tight-lipped about their personal lives, and have made it a point to keep their two children, Vamika and Akaay, away from the media’s glaring eye. It’s only on special occasions that they share glimpses into their daily lives,” the paper reported.

“Taking to her Instagram account on Tuesday, Anushka posted a picture of Virat playfully carrying Vamika and Akaay in his arms. She covered the kids’ faces with heart emojis. She captioned the post with a heart and evil eye emoji. The family appeared to be in London, which is where they’ve reportedly settled in recent months.”