Virat Kohli rips into Kiwi journo after swearing allegations during India’s tour of New Zealand
India captain Virat Kohli brought a controversial tour of New Zealand to a heated, petty close, biting back at a local journalist dared question his on-field behaviour.
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India captain Virat Kohli’s tetchy on-field behaviour during his side’s Test whitewash defeat to New Zealand in to the post-match press conference, engaging in an unseemly conflict with a local journalist whose straightforward question got under his skin.
Riled by New Zealand supporters throughout the series, Kohli appeared to mouth the words “shut the f*** up” towards the crowd following the dismissal of Tom Latham in the second Test.
He also appeared to say ‘behenchod’ — a Hindi curse word — after Kane Williamson fell.
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Asked about those two incidents and whether he needed to “set a better example and tone it down”, Kohli responded with a glare and question of his own.
“What do you think?” Kohli replied, before implying the journalist had his facts wrong.
“You need to find out exactly what happened and then come with a better question,” the Indian captain said.
“You can’t come here with half questions and half details of what happened. And also if you want to create controversy this is not the right place to be. I’ve spoken to the match referee, he [Ranjan Madugalle] had no issues with what happened. Thank you.”
The second Test also saw the Indians accused of employing some unseemly tactics in the field, with veteran umpire Richard Kettleborough adamant they had attempted to con Tom Latham into chasing a second run that was never on.
Latham had tucked a ball to fine leg for an easy single but someone shouted out “two”.
“No shouting two,” umpire Kettleborough, crowned the ICC umpire of the year four times, was heard admonishing Kohli. “You shouted two there.”
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Kettleborough seemed unimpressed by Kohli’s explanation the call was to alert the fielder at fine leg of the possibility of a second run.
“No you’re not, you shouted here, enough please.”
It was a series and a tour to forget for Kohli, who averaged 9.50 across the two Tests and only passed 50 once across nine matches.
Originally published as Virat Kohli rips into Kiwi journo after swearing allegations during India’s tour of New Zealand