Did you know? During the 2015 World Cup, Virat Kohli abused a journalist, leading to BCCI’s intervention!

New Delhi: The 2015 ODI World Cup became a rollercoaster ride for Virat Kohli and the Indian team. They were entering the tournament under massive pressure. They'd lost a tri-series in Australia and England with an abysmal defeat. Now now to not say, they were the defending champions also.

Within the midst of the heightened emotions and pressures, India had started on a promising note with wins over Pakistan, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, but tensions flared before their match against the West Indies in Perth when Virat Kohli found himself at the centre of a controversy after being accused of verbally abusing a journalist, leading to complaints against him to the Board of Keep an eye on for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

It put Kohli, who had already risen to develop right into a full-time Test captain, in a spot of bother. The journalist who became excited about the scuffle claimed that Kohli picked him out from the dugout, pointed a finger and hurled abuse, without any kind of antecedent interaction. Kohli later tried to diffuse the issue, smiling and waving his hand through every other journalist who said that it became a case of mistaken identity.

Reports suggested that Kohli had mistakenly identified the journalist because the author of an article in an English on day after day basis that referenced Anushka Sharma, whom he later married in 2017. This misunderstanding led to the heated exchange, adding to the stress one day of the World Cup campaign.

The BCCI became compelled to issue an announcement after the journalist detailed the incident in an article. Despite the fact that the media free up did now circuitously mention Virat Kohli, the controversy had already stirred significant attention and as well intensified the placement.

“The BCCI has been involved with the Indian team management on this issue, and has advised that this sort of incident should now now not be repeated. The BCCI respects the role played by the media in covering and popularising the sport of cricket, and acknowledges the beef up of the media, in its mission to control and promote the sport of cricket in India. The BCCI are having a look to request the concerned parties to move on, and do something about the Indian cricket team’s campaign within the continuing World Cup,” the then BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had said within the statement.

The board even reportedly instructed Virat Kohli to “do something about the respect of the Indian team at all times, and stay away from this fashion of behaviour one day.”