3 biggest controversies in Virat Kohli's 15-year international career

On this day, 15 years ago, a 19-year-old Virat Kohli represented India for the first time in international cricket. It was in Dambulla, in an ODI between India and Sri Lanka that Kohli first donned the Indian jersey.

There was no doubt about the talent that the lad possessed but no one could have predicted Kohli's sheer dominance at the highest level. Between that day and today, Kohli has amassed 25,582 runs for India, excelling in all three formats.

He has been an excellent ambassador of the game and his achievements have only made it richer. But over the years, Kohli has also been involved in plenty of controversies. Here we look at three of his controversial episodes:

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#1 The Anil Kumble Saga

The Kohli-Kumble rift- one of the lowest points in India's cricketing history

The Anil Kumble-Virat Kohli saga was one of the most talked-about controversies in Indian cricket in the last decade. It involved the alleged fallout between the then-Indian captain Virat Kohli and the then-head coach Anil Kumble.

Reports back in the day suggested that Kohli found Kumble's methods to be overwhelming. The former spinner stepped down from his position in June 2017 despite being given the option of an extension.

Post his resignation, Kumble confirmed that the in view of the misunderstandings, the partnership between the two was untenable. Kohli received a lot of flak from fans and pundits for his role in the whole saga which is considered to be one of the lowest points in the history of Indian Cricket.

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#2 The Middle-Finger incident

Kohli was lucky to get away with just a fine

This incident occurred in 2012 when India toured Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. During the second Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a group of spectators instigated Kohli as they hurled abuses at him whilst the batter was fielding near the boundary rope.

Kohli gestured his middle-finger at the crowd for which he received a lot of criticism. Kohli on his part, defended himself by saying that the spectators abused his family. Kohli was fined 50% of his match fees and was fortunate enough to avoid a ban.

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#3 Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Johnson

Kohli and Johnson were involved in a heated episode

During the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Series down under, Virat Kohli was involved in an ugly episode which also featured the Aussie pacer, Mitchell Johnson. It all started when Kohli nudged the ball, which went back to Johnson who threw it towards Kohli.

Post that, Kohli took on Johnson and played some spectacular shots in the process. There were a lot of verbal exchanges between the two parties during the innings.

"I was really annoyed with him hitting me with the ball", Kohli later said at a press conference.