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‘Virat Kohli wasn’t happy’: Former England opener recalls ‘funny joke’ during 2012 Test series against India

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Byhindustantimes.com
Jun 15, 2020 10:19 AM IST

Compton, who played 16 Test matches for England between 2012 and 2016, scoring 775 runs, however, said Kohli is a world-class player and he was amazed at the growth of the Indian captain

Former England opener Nick Compton said he was sledged by Virat Kohli during England’s tour of India in 2012 as the current India captain did not like the fact that Compton had chatted with Kohli’s ex-girlfriend. Compton, who had made his Test debut in that series in Ahmedabad, said he had bumped into Kohli’s ex-friend at a gathering in which former cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Yuvraj Singh were also present.

File image of Virat Kohli.(BCCI)
File image of Virat Kohli.(BCCI)

“I definitely got a few words from Virat Kohli during the series. I think I bumped into his ex-girlfriend at the time before the series when out for an evening with Kevin Pietersen and myself, Yuvraj Singh … all of us were there, and she was there,” Compton said speaking on the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast.

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Compton said Kohli was not happy about the fact that he had talked to his former girlfriend. The former England batsman said, he was sledged every time he walked out to bat in that series in 2012, which England won by 2-1.

“I just chatted to her and the word got back that I was speaking to her, and I don’t think Virat Kohli was very happy with that. He had a few words to say to me every time I walked out to bat. He was trying to say that it was his girlfriend, and she was saying that it was her ex-boyfriend. It was like, ‘Who’s got the story right here,’ you know what I mean?”

“It was quite funny at the time, and the players in our England camp caught hold of it. We used it as a way to keep winding him up and, you know, trying to get in his head.

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Compton, who played 16 Test matches for England between 2012 and 2016, scoring 775 runs, however, said Kohli is a world-class player and he was amazed at the growth of the Indian captain.

“But he’s a world-class performer, and he came back and scored a good hundred in the last [game in Nagpur]. And obviously his career has gone on from strength to strength. But it was quite a funny joke that we had throughout the series, and something that I always smile about. But everything was in good faith. I had a chat with Tendulkar after the series and he congratulated me on the way I played and trying not to attack too much.”

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