5 instances where Virat Kohli lost his temper

There is no doubt that in the last three years, Virat Kohli has been amongst the most dominating batsmen across all three formats of the game. The 26-year-old has won India numerous matches almost single-handedly and has become the pivot around which the Indian batting revolves.But as much as the right-hander is famous for his exploits with the bat in hand, he is equally well known for losing his cool and is prone to a few indiscretions every once in a while. The most recent example is his misbehaviour with a newspaper journalist during a practice session in Perth ahead of India’s Pool B encounter against West Indies in the World Cup, mistaking him for another journalist who had written a story about Kohli and Anushka Sharma. In the wake of the latest controversy, here are 5 instances where Kohli has been guilty of losing his temper:

#1 The finger row in Sydney

During the Sydney Test in India’s 2011-12 tour to Australia, Virat Kohli was fined 50% of his match fees after he was seen showing the middle finger to the crowd as a reaction to some hostile provocation from the crowd.

Defending himself after the incident, the right-hander tweeted that the crowd had uttered some appalling words directed towards him, leading him to retaliate in the manner that he did. “I agree cricketers don’t have to retaliate. What when the crowd says the worst things about your mother and sister. The worst I’ve heard,” he said.

#2 Bat waving at Australian players en route to maiden Test century

Kohli'sjourney to his maiden Test hundred, against Australia in Adelaide, wasnt as smooth-sailing as he wouldve hoped as he got into a spat with a number of Australian players during the innings. Especially when he was on 99 and in search of a quick single, his eagerness to get to that elusive mark almost cost the team as a run-out chance was missed by just a whisker. After gettingback on his feet, the Delhi batsman was seen having some heated exchanges with the Australians, repeatedly pointing his bat towards them.

His anger subsided a bit only when the experienced Ricky Ponting intervened to calm the situation down and asked Kohli to move on with the game. He reached his century in the subsequent overand on reaching the mark, he let fly a volley of abuses and vented his anger through his celebration.

Heres a video of that incident:

#3 The Kohli-Gambhir spat in the IPL

During the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kohli was involved in a heated confrontation with fellow India and Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Upon being dismissed off the bowling of Lakshmipathy Balaji during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB’s) run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), KKR skipper Gambhir appeared to say a few words to Kohli, which was enough to provoke a response. The two players charged towards each other and were seemingly set for fisticuffs before being separated by the KKR players.

Here’s the video of the incident:

#4 Kohli expresses fury with Mumbai crowd

After an IPL game at the Wankhede Stadium, Kohli was involved in an unsavoury incident with the fans at the stadium as he made his way to the dressing room following the game. The right-hander later expressed his disapproval with the behaviour of the fans, saying that he doesn't understand why they get so agitated and boo Indian players during IPL matches and reminded them that, after all, these are the same players who also play for India.

“As far as the crowd is concerned, it has happened to a few players in the past as well. I don’t know why they get so worked up during IPL. IPL is not the end of the world. And they forget that the players they are booing for also play for their country,” he said.

Here’s the video of his altercation with the fans:

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#5 The Kohli-Johnson showdown

As recently as during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in December last year, Kohli was involved in a verbal altercation with Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson. The incident occurred when Johnson collected the ball after a forward push from the right-hander and threw it straight back in his direction. But the ball, instead of hitting the stumps as was seemingly intended, hit Kohli on the back of his right leg.

This led to Kohli exchanging some heated words with Johnson and the hostility between the pair continued right through the innings. The incident definitely did seem to have an impact on the 26-year-old’s concentration as he survived a dropped chance and was beaten comprehensively on a couple of occasions in Johnson’s very next over, but regained his composure quickly to score a wonderful 169 in front of a packed MCG.