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India veteran Virat Kohli was surrounded by controversy during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was a tough series for Kohli as he was out of form and involved in some other issues.
Kohli got into a physical altercation with Australia’s Sam Constellation during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG when he bumped the young debutant with his shoulder. Former India cricketer Saba Karim recently spoke about Kohli’s behavior during the series.
Karim came down heavily on Kohli for this behavior and asked him to behave like a senior player. He advised the 36-year-old batsman to show fight and aggression in his batting instead of getting involved in unnecessary issues.
Saba Karim slams Virat Kohli for his behavior
In an interview with SportsNext, Saba Karim slammed Virat Kohli for his behavior during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He believes controversial refereeing decisions should be consulted with ICC officials and not addressed to the opposition.
“I feel this behavior is not befitting of Virat Kohli now. He is a senior player now. I agree there were one or two controversial decisions in Australia this time but they were not from Australian umpires. They were from neutral decisions Referee,” Karim replied.
Karim also felt that Kohli should have thought twice before getting into a physical altercation with Sam Konstass and the crowd. The former India wicketkeeper feels things have gotten out of hand for Kohli in this series.
“If there are any questions about the technology, it should be discussed with the ICC or the broadcasters and producers. It’s not right to behave like that with the crowd and have this conversation with Sam Constellation. I feel like things have gone too far. ,” he calculated.
Virat Kohli slammed for showing ‘unnecessary aggression’
Saba Karim further suggested Virat Kohli to use his performance to show his on-field battle instead of getting involved in on-field confrontations with his opponents. He cited examples of players showing aggression in their performances.
“If you have to fight on the ground, do it by running, performing, taking wickets and winning games. The unnecessary aggression we have seen so many times on the ground has become too much, ” Karim pointed out.
“Aggression should come through runs or performances, as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy have done to some extent. Act like that,” he added.
Virat Kohli controversies in BGT 2024-25
Virat Kohli suffered a shoulder collision with Australia’s Sam Konstass on the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The two players exchanged a few words with each other before the referee and Usman Khawaja calmed them down.
During the tour, Kohli was also seen arguing with a reporter who filmed his family outside Melbourne Airport without his consent. During the fifth Test, he was seen making some gestures to the crowd regarding the accusation of using sandpaper.
The Australian fans booed Kohli and he continued to irritate them after taking every wicket. Looking at his statistics, Kohli has scored 190 runs in five Tests at an average of 23.75. He scored a hundred in the first Test match, but from the second Test match onwards, his runs started to drop.
