Before the fourth Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in Melbourne, Virat Kohli had a controversial encounter at the Melbourne airport with his wife Anushka Sharma and their children.
The incident occurred when Kohli confronted a local journalist for taking photos without permission, leading to criticism from another senior journalist. Tony Jones, a reporter for 9 Sports, accused the former India captain of intimidating the journalist, especially after the media faced strong backlash.
“Nat was out there with a cameraman, a Channel 7 reporter was out there with his cameraman and they were doing what we do on a daily basis essentially, and that’s be at the airport to actually get identities, whether they’re politicians, whether they’re sporting identities or whatever,” Jones said (via News18).
He remarked that Virat Kohli is a prominent figure and criticized him for being upset about the camera attention. He also condemned Kohli for engaging in a confrontation with the female reporter at the airport.
“Well, duh! You’re a batting superstar, you’re a global superstar in the world of cricket, and he takes umbrage to the fact that the attention is focused on him.What really got my back up when I saw the footage was that he turned around to the three blokes, the two cameramen and the reporter from Channel 7, and said you guys are OK, it’s her,” Tony said.
He even went as far as to label Virat Kohli a ‘bully’ for his actions towards the reporter at the Melbourne airport.
“And then he stood over this girl, Nat Yoannidis, who’s about five foot one, five foot two, and just absolutely berated her. You’re nothing but a bully, Virat,” Tony added.
What incident was Virat Kohli involved in?
The fourth BGT 2024-25 Test will take place in Melbourne, where Virat Kohli recently arrived at the airport with his family. The Australian media present at the airport turned their attention to him. Virat requested privacy as he was with his family, especially his children, and didn’t appreciate being filmed without consent.
The Australian media later explained that they were interviewing Scott Boland and unintentionally directed their cameras towards Kohli when he arrived, clarifying it was a misunderstanding. However, this explanation didn’t sit well with the former Indian captain, who was seen arguing with an Australian reporter over being filmed without his approval.
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