Indian batter Virat Kohli is famous for his aggressive approach, and especially during the initial phase of his career, he was involved in controversial incidents. Kohli’s celebrations also used to be over the top, and he had a lot of heated moments on the field. One such incident happened in Australia vs India Sydney Test in 2012.
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India lost the first match in Adelaide, and the 2nd match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. During the match, Kohli was fielding near the boundary ropes, and the Australian crowd was sledging him. A young and angry Kohli could not control his anger, and he showed a finger crowd to the crowd.
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This was obviously an obscene gesture, and he was reprimanded for the same as well. Match referee Ranjan Madugalle called Kohli after the day’s play, and he found Kohli guilty of breaching a level-two offense under the ICC norms. Kohli was fined 50% of his match fee for the actions.
Virat Kohli was once fined 50% of match fees for showing middle finger to crowd
Virat Kohli accepted the charge, but he revealed that the crowd said the worst things about him and that’s why he could not control his anger. Even former English batter Kevin Pietersen came in support of Kohli and said that the Australian crowd always does the same against the top players.
“Cricketers don’t have to retaliate. [But] when the crowd says the worst things about your mother and sister. The worst I’ve heard,” Kohli tweeted.
India lost the Sydney Test by a big margin of an innings and 68 runs. Kohli also was not at his best, and he could just score a combined total of 32 runs in both innings. Australia white-washed India by 4-0 in the series.
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In 2018, Kohli gave an interview to India Today, where he recalled the incident. Kohli revealed that he apologized to Ranjan Madugalle and asked him not to impose a ban. He insisted that Madugalle was kind enough and understood his age. Although, he said that he was not guilty of his actions.
“‘I’m so sorry, please don’t ban me!’. I got away with that one. He (Ranjan Madugalle) was a nice guy, he understood I was young and these things happen,” Virat Kohli said to India Today.
It is 2023 now and yet another India vs Australia series to set to start in a few day’s time. The rivalry between both sides has been great in the longest format of the game, and the Border Gavaskar Trophy can be an intriguing contest.
