Virat Kohli reflects an amazing journey from his debut to the becoming the epitome of ‘The Best!’ Called one of the modren day greats, Kohli is currently the top batsman in Tests and ODIs combined. Currently leading his team against Joe Root and Co in England, he revealed his moments of ups and downs.
AP
In an exclusive interview in the latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, Kohli revealed the 2012 Sydney Test row when he was caught brandishing the middle finger to a certain section of the crowd. His ordeal also reflects how petrified he was following the incident. Kohli recalled, “The one thing I remember most is when I’d had enough of the Australian crowd at Sydney [in 2012] and I just decided to flick a [middle] finger at them. ‘I’m so cool’.”
“The match referee [Ranjan Madugalle] called me to his room the next day and I’m like, ‘What’s wrong?’. He said, ‘What happened at the boundary yesterday?’. I said, ‘Nothing, it was a bit of banter’. Then he threw the newspaper in front of me and there was this big image of me flicking on the front page and I said, ‘I’m so sorry, please don’t ban me!’. I got away with that one. He was a nice guy, he understood I was young and these things happen,” The India skipper furthered.
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The Delhi cricketer has featured in 70 Tests and 211 ODIs. He recently crossed the 6000 runs mark in Tests as he has garnered 6098 runs averaging 54.45 in Tests. He has 23 Test hundreds, 19 half-centuries and six double hundreds to boast. The run-machine has amassed 9779 runs in ODIs averaging 58.21. He has 35 ODI tons and 48 fifties. He also is the highest run scorer in the ongoing Test series against England with 544 runs at a staggering average of 68.
Reuters
“I really laugh at a lot of the things I did when I was younger but I’m proud that I did not change my ways because I was always going to be who I am and not change for the world or for anyone else. I was pretty happy with who I was,” Kohli said in his interview.