World Cup 2019: Three great acts of sportsmanship by Virat Kohli

The general image of Virat Kohli on the field is pretty aggressive. The 'middle-finger' incident in Australia, messing up with the opponent bowlers, combative and fractious celebrations, having heated chats with players on the field and ruthless send-offs are a couple of examples of his aggressive behavior on the field. While there are also many fans who love Kohli for his aggression, a few famous personalities like Naseeruddin Shah have openly criticized Kohli and called him 'immature' for the same.

Besides improving his batting by leaps and bounds consistently over the years, the 30-year-old has also been working on his on-field behavior after becoming the Indian Captain. And, this is clearly visible in his press conferences and recent interviews. Though he is still very aggressive, he has made some great gestures in recent years. In the following slides, we have discussed such three incidents when Kohli won the hearts of the fans in lieu of his beautiful gestures.

#3 Kohli's gesture towards Mohammad Amir in Asia Cup 2016:

Mohammad Amir and Virat Kohli

After completing a 5-year ban from Cricket, the Pakistani left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir made a comeback in International Cricket in 2016. Amir faced a lot of criticism and humiliation due to that spot-fixing scandal and his return in International Cricket was opposed.

Virat Kohli was happy for the 27-year-old young bowler Amir and congratulated him on making a comeback. Before playing against India's arch-rival Pakistan in Asia Cup 2016, Kohli said,

"I have always believed that he (Amir) is a world-class bowler and had he been around for the five years that he was banned, he would have certainly been a top three bowlers in the world. He has a lot of talent, has got pace, bounces a very good yorker."

"I wish him all the best. He has worked hard to make a comeback and it takes courage to do what he did," he added.

The fans all around the globe were pleased by Kohli's heart-warming gesture and applauded him. The Pakistani ace pacer Amir with 13 wickets in just 4 matches is the third leading wicket-taker in ongoing World Cup 2019 in England.

#2 Virat's gesture towards injured Haseeb Hameed:

Virat Kohli and Haseeb Hameed

Haseeb Hameed, the youngest Test debutant for England got injured during England's tour to India in 2016. The right-handed batsman was having a good time in maiden test series in which he scored 219 runs with a pretty good average of about 44. In the third test match of the series at Mohali, Hameed left the field with a score of 9 as he was struck on his left hand by Indian pacer Umesh Yadav. The young batsman didn't give up and came to bat down the order in second innings and scored 59 runs even in huge pain.

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli was very impressed with the young lad and showered a lot of praise on the Lancashire-born batsman.

"I wish him a speedy recovery. He showed great character for a 19-year-old at this level. He put his hand up when his team wanted him to do it. The way he played with James Anderson, in the end, showed great maturity, to play with a tail like that. He knew exactly what he wanted to do," Kohli said.

Haseeb who showed a lot of promise in the early phase of International career failed miserably in domestic circuit and couldn't make a comeback after that injury.

#1 Kohli's gesture towards Smith in World Cup:

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith

Steven Smith faced a one-year ban from Cricket and a lot of criticism due to the sandpaper gate scandal. The right-handed batsman announced his comeback in some fashion in this World Cup. The English fans booed him in Australia's warm-up game against England and in other matches too.

Some of the Indian fans also tried to boo the Sydney-born batsman during the second match of the 'Men in Blue' against Australia. The Indian captain Virat Kohli didn't like their unhealthy action and asked them to cheer for the Indian Team instead of booing the 30-year-old batsman.

When Kohli was asked about his wonderful gesture, he said -

"There are so many Indian fans here, I just didn't want them to set a bad example, to be honest. He didn't do anything to be booed, in my opinion. He's just playing cricket. I mean he's just standing there and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I'd apologized and accepted it and I came back and still I get booed, I wouldn't like it either."

The number one ODI batsman Virat Kohli had issues with Smith in the past but keeping those issues aside, he asked the Indian fans not to disrespect the former Australian skipper. Kohli received a lot of praise from all around the world especially from Australian fans for this beautiful gesture.