Mohammad Kaif comes to Virat Kohli’s defence after ‘leave India’ remark

India captain Virat Kohli’s controversial “leave India” remark, for which he has been pilloried all over social media, has not gone down well with a lot of people. The Indian captain though has been defended by former India batsman and newly appointed assistant coach of Delhi Daredevils Mohammad Kaif who says Kohli’s remark has been taken out of context.

Kaif and Kohli were teammates at IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2011-2013.

Kaif, who played 13 Tests for India has described the treatment Kohli is getting as “mischievous targeting”.

The controversy erupted on Wednesday through a video on social media when Kohli was promoting his official application and in the video, the India captain can be seen saying harsh words to a fan who said “Over-rated batsman and personally I see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians.”

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli issues statement after backlash over ‘leave India’ remark to cricket fan

Virat Kohli "I don't think you should live in India, go and live somewhere else. Why are you living in our country and loving other countries" pic.twitter.com/YbPG97Auyn

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) November 6, 2018

In reply to the message Kohli had some stinging words of his own, “I don’t think you should live in India, go and live somewhere else. Why are you living in our country and loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me, but I don’t think you should live in our country and like other things. Get your priorities right.”

I guess trolling isn't for me guys, I'll stick to getting trolled! 😁
I spoke about how "these Indians" was mentioned in the comment and that's all. I’m all for freedom of choice. 🙏 Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all. ✌😊

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 8, 2018

Virat has been vilified from all angles and on Friday he took to Twitter to put forward his side of the story. “I guess trolling isn’t for me guys, I’ll stick to getting trolled! 😁 I spoke about how “these Indians” was mentioned in the comment and that’s all. I’m all for freedom of choice. 🙏 Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all. ✌😊,” the tweet read.

The unfair targeting of Kohli just shows how statements are twisted according to whatever suits the agenda of people. He has publicly in the past admired sportsman from across the globe & his statement clearly was in a certain context.But mischievous targeting is a norm for a few

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) November 8, 2018

Virat has now found support from his former teammate Kaif who says that the words have been taken out of context. “The unfair targeting of Kohli just shows how statements are twisted according to whatever suits the agenda of people. He has publicly in the past admired sportsman from across the globe & his statement clearly was in a certain context. But mischievous targeting is a norm for a few,” he said in a tweet.

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli’s ‘leave India’ comment: CoA to look into controversy after backlash

Virat and Kaif may have presented their side of the story but what happened hasn’t gone down too well with the Committee of Administrators (CoA) who said they will look into the matter. “The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) will look into the matter,” a source told ANI.

First Published: Nov 09, 2018 13:58 IST