Virat Kohli is a box office whether he has the bat in his hands or fielding on the ground. Anger is his USP which makes him the best and different from the rest. He will make sure that he grabs all the headlines in every way possible. There have been many instances when Virat Kohli got angry in the field.
Some of the things he says or does on the cricket field leaves fans divided in their opinions. But one thing is for sure that love him or hate him, you just cannot ignore him when he is playing. The current India skipper likes being in the face of the opposition and lets them know how he feels about them.
Read More: KL Rahul Opens Up About Comparisons With MS Dhoni
He has already mentioned that he has been aggressive like this since his early days in cricket. The cricket system in Delhi while growing up made him fearless from the very beginning of his career. Since making his debut in 2008, Kohli has matured leaps and bounds as a person and cricketer but still, at times, the anger in his has taken the centre stage.
Here are some of the instances when Virat Kohli got angry in the field and gave it back with interest to whosoever:
5. India vs New Zealand 2020
This was the last Test match India played this year. It was the second Test match between India and New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. India was out to field after concluding their first innings in the Test match. Then out of the blue, the drunk crowd present at the ground started mocking the Indian captain.
He was standing in the slips and was not impressed by this behaviour of the crowd. As soon as the wicket of Kiwi captain Kane Williamson fell, Kohli was in a flash and was seen swearing and signalling the crowd to shut up. The reaction wasn’t surprising as India took a huge wicket that brought them back into the contest.
Ultimately when after the match the media asked him a question regarding this moment Kohli asked them to not put ‘half-hearted’ questions in front of him.
Read More: Jasprit Bumrah Reveals His Favourite Batsman; Snubs Virat Kohli
4. India vs Australia 2003
This was Virat’s first tour to Australia as he was part of the test series Down Under. The crowd in Australia can be hostile at times and very abusive towards the players of other teams. India had their back against the wall in the Test match and was chasing leather courtesy of Micheal Clarke 300. A young Kohli was standing at the boundary rope where a certain section of the crowd was saying harsh words.
Kohli pretended that he was not listening anything but when the situation got out of hand his objectionable actions were caught by everyone on the camera. This incident started the love and hate relationship between Kohli and the Australian public. The match referee also fined 50 per cent of the match fees of Virat Kohli for his behaviour towards the crowd.
Read More: Hanuma Vihari Opens Up On Missing An IPL Contract
3. Virat Kohli against Mumbai Indians (2015)
Another instance when Virat Kohli got angry on the crowd during a match was in the IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore were facing Mumbai Indians at Wankhade Stadium in 2015. A disappointed Kohli was heading back to the pavilion after his dismissal in the match. Suddenly the star batsman got angry on a spectator that had made fun of Virat Kohli.
He was passing remarks on Kohli as he was about to enter his dressing room. Kohli didn’t like it one bit and it angered him he then went to the crowd and asked them who was the one that started all those things. The batsman was irate at the crowd and the team management of RCB had to intervene and take Kohli away to the pavilion.
Read More: Haris Rauf Picks Two Biggest Challenges For Him In The ICC T20 World Cup 2020
2. Virat Kohli sledging Steve Smith
India and Australia were facing each other in the first T20 of the 3 match series at Adelaide in 2016. Kohli had scored his highest T20I score back then and had come out to the field. Something annoyed Kohli which was that Steve Smith was taking a dig at debutant Hardik Pandya after smacking him to the fence. Kohli is the ultimate team man that he is was not going to take this lightly.
Smith got a leading edge in the next over and was caught by Kohli at short extra cover. After the catch, Kohli was extremely animated and gave a send-off to Steve Smith. Dhoni asked him what had happened and then he explained that for no reason he was taunting Hardik Pandya. Kohli was so pumped that he did not stop until Smith left the field after getting out.
Read More: West Indies Cricketer Chris Gayle Hilariously Trolls Yuzvendra Chahal
1. Virat Kohli and Rubel Hossain
This was the inaugural match of the 2011 World Cup edition between India and Bangladesh at Dhaka. Kohli was making his World cup debut and had come out to bat with India in a strong position at number 4. Kohli isn’t just your average cricketer who will be nervous about making his World cup debut. He was oozing confidence as soon as he came out to bat in the middle.
Rubel Hossain a Bangladeshi pacer who had played against Kohli since his U19 days was bowling to him. The bowler had a moral victory against Kohli as he mistimed the drive back to him in his follow-through. Kohli was in the process of shadow practising a textbook cover drive when he saw Hossain staring at him and looking to throw the ball back at him.
Virat Kohli got angry in the field and gave the Bangladesh bowler an abuse of his own. This was a proper Hindi abuse that every 1.3 billion Indians clearly understood while watching the match. In the end, Kohli had the last laugh as he went on to score a century and helped India win the match comprehensively.