Be it his aggressive approach towards captaincy, or the in-your-face demeanor in front of opponents, fans continue to miss Virat Kohli – the Test captain and his contagious on-field energy. Leading alongside a merciless pace attack, coupled with his stellar individual performances against leading Test nations away from home had further decorated his CV as a Test skipper.
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Specimens of his aggressive side were on display during India’s recent two tours of South Africa. Coincidentally, involved alongside him during both the incidents were fellow teammate Ravichandran Ashwin and South African batter (captain in 2022) Dean Elgar.
Virat Kohli Had Shut Down Dean Elgar With Fiery Words From Non-Striker’s End
It all happened during the second Test of India’s tour of South Africa 2017/18 in Centurion. Funnily enough, Kohli had no business in having a go at Elgar, as the latter was just about to chirp something to Ashwin after he had hit the Proteas pacer Kagiso Ragada for three consecutive fours in the first innings. However, high on emotions after having smashed a 21st Test century (second in South Africa) just a couple of overs ago, Kohli didn’t mind having a go at Elgar.
Ashwin had revealed the hilarious incident of an ever-charged Kohli brutally shutting up Elgar during an interaction with popular YouTuber Vikram Sathaye around five years ago.
“I went bang! bang! bang! I go three boundaries together. Now Virat [Kohli] is fired up because I’ve taken [Kagiso] Rabada on and I’ve hit him for three fours he’s like, ‘Yeah! Keep going Ash, keep going’. Dean Elgar just walked to say something to me and Virat just went between and said, ‘You get on! You’re not even hitting a single ball. You’re getting all your runs off the edge’ and all. Dean Elgar just shut his mouth and went back!”
While Ashwin got dismissed at the score of 38, Kohli went on to smash 153 runs, and remained the only centurion throughout the match.
What Really Happened During Virat Kohli Stump Mic Controversy In Cape Town Test 2022?
Four years later, Elgar found himself at the epicentre of another controversy for no particular fault of his. Coincidentally, it was the angry duo of Kohli and Ashwin who did much of the chirping on this occasion, while Elgar had his bat in hand.
It was the third day of the third Test of India’s tour of South Africa 2021/22 in Cape Town. Chasing a 212-run target, Elgar got an LBW decision overturned with the help of DRS. While it looked to the naked eye that the ball would’ve definitely crashed the stumps, ball tracking showed it to be missing them altogether.
Even on-field umpire Marais Erasmus couldn’t believe what he saw on the giant screen, while the likes of Kohli and Ashwin were absolutely convinced that the host broadcaster SuperSport had somehow rigged the DRS.
“Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball, eh, not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time,” Kohli yelled at the stump mic to accuse the broadcaster of deliberately ignoring the fact that the South African players were wrongly shining the ball during India’s innings.
Ashwin didn’t hold back either and was heard while returning back to his bowling mark saying, “You should find better ways to win, SuperSport,”. India eventually lost the match by 7 wickets, and a three-match series 1-2.
