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India’s veteran batsman Virat Kohli was surrounded by controversies in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was a tough series for Kohli as he lacked form from his side and was involved in some other issues as well.
In the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Kohli was involved in a physical altercation with Australia’s Sam Konstas when he shouldered the young debutant. Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim recently spoke about Kohli’s behavior during the series.
Karim was highly critical of Kohli for displaying such behavior and asked him to behave like a senior player. He suggested the 36-year-old batsman to show fight and aggression in his batting instead of getting himself into unnecessary trouble.
Saba Karim criticizes Virat Kohli’s behaviour
While speaking to SportsNext, Saba Karim criticized Virat Kohli’s behavior during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He feels that questionable umpiring decisions should be discussed with ICC officials instead of saying things to the opposition.
“Now I feel that kind of behavior does not suit Virat Kohli. He is a senior player now. I agree that there were one or two questionable decisions in Australia this time, but they were not from the Australian umpires. They were from the neutral. umpires Karim replied.
Karim also felt that Kohli should have thought twice before the physical confrontation with Sam Konstas and the crowd. The former India wicketkeeper felt things got out of hand in the series for Kohli.
“If there is also any doubt about the technology, that should be discussed with the ICC or with the broadcasters and producers. To behave like that with the public and to have a conversation like that with Sam Konstas is not right. I think the things go too far, “he counted.
Virat Kohli criticized for showing ‘unnecessary aggression’
Saba Karim also suggested Virat Kohli to show his fight on the ground with his performance instead of getting involved in an on-field confrontation with the opposition. He gave examples of the players who showed aggression with their performance.
“If you have to fight on the ground, do it with runs, with your performance, taking wickets and winning matches. The unnecessary aggression that we see many times on the ground has become too much,” said Karim.
“Aggression should be through runs or performance, as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy have shown to some extent,” he added.
Virat Kohli’s controversies in BGT 2024-25
Virat Kohli was involved in a shoulder collision with Australia’s Sam Konstas on the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The two players exchanged some words with each other and had to be calmed down by the umpire and Usman Khawaja.
During the tour, Kohli was also seen arguing with a reporter for filming his family without their consent outside the Melbourne airport. During the fifth Test, he was seen making some gestures to the crowd over allegations of using sandpaper.
The Australian crowd booed Kohli and continued to taunt them after picking all the wickets. Coming to his numbers, Kohli scored 190 runs in five Tests at an average of 23.75. He scored a hundred in the first Test, but his numbers started to decline from the second Test onwards.
