Bura Na Mano, Kohli Hai – But Why Is Virat So Angry?

Video Editors:
Mohd Ibrahim
Vivek Gupta
Camera: Abhay Singh

One of the biggest tours of his career, and Virat Kohli is not just going to be remembered for the runs that he made or the records that he broke. Throughout India’s recently concluded tour of South Africa, former cricketers, media and even his fans had a thing or two to say about the Indian captain’s attitude off the field.

Now we’ve got more or less used to the shouting and abusing and all the ‘non-sanskari’ drama during the matches. But what we, or for that matter, most people, have not appreciated during India’s time in the land of Proteas, was Virat’s utterly juvenile, yes juvenile, treatment of journalists in the post-match press conferences.

It started after India’s Test series loss against South Africa, and as expected, the captain’s selection choices came under the scanner. India had replaced Shikhar Dhawan with KL Rahul while Ishant Sharma came in place for Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second Test at Centurion.

After India lost the match by a massive 135 runs and conceded the series, a South African reporter asked whether Virat expected different results by tinkering with his playing eleven. And the skipper just let loose.

Now I’m not even going to speak about how I feel about it because the comments on the video, from his fans, gives the message loud and clear.

Criticism or no, Virat’s team soldiered on and fortunes changed in the one-day series and how. The visitors thrashed the hosts 5-1 in the ODI series, and there Virat was, ready to answer any kind of criticism with his shiny winners’ trophy.

ONLY. The reporters had nothing bad to say! They congratulated the skipper and asked if this was his biggest overseas win. I would have said thank you and nodded, but I’m not Virat. Here’s what he said.

Mercifully, after the T20 series win, we did not have a third edition of Virat vs journos because Suresh Raina and Bhuvneshwar showed up for the post-match press conference and peace prevailed.

However, I still have a point to make. What is going on, Virat Kohli? Captain of the Indian cricket team, first Indian captain to win a series in South Africa, the Test captain with the ICC Mace and the cricketer with the most record-breaking performance in the last year.

Do we remember him for all these amazing achievements or does Virat want to instead simply be THAT captain who wants to pick fights at the drop of a hat?

The thing is, he will be asked questions when the team is performing and he will be asked questions when it’s not. As reporters, it’s our job to ask questions, as much of a job it is for him, as captain of the Indian cricket team, to talk about the squad’s performance. I mean, a press conference can’t end up becoming ‘who wants to get screamed at by Virat Kohli’ contest for journalists now, can it?

Look, Virat is inarguably one of the greatest cricketers of the times, and Indian fans love him for that. He is the story that inspires generations – the Delhi boy who fought his way into the team based on performance, perseverance and sacrifices. WHY then does he want to change that ‘love story’ he has with his fans just because he doesn’t like to be questioned?

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