Top batsman Virat Kohli suddenly lost his cool after the Indian cricket team’s training session in Perth on Tuesday and abused journalist Jasvinder Sidhu, who is covering the World Cup for Hindustan Times.
The incident, which occurred as Kohli was returning to the dressing room after the training session, took other players, journalists and bystanders by surprise.
Kohli used the filthiest of language while abusing Sidhu, who was shocked by the sudden outburst. The batsman called the scribe a “ba****d, g****u and be******d”, according to those who were present.
The abuse continued for some time before Kohli stormed off. Other members of the Indian team members too were shocked by the incident.
Sidhu was clueless about the reason for the outburst. After Kohli calmed down, he told someone that he thought Sidhu had written a recent article in a national daily on him and his girlfriend, Bollywood star Anushka Sharma.
When someone pointed out to Kohli that he had mistaken Sidhu for someone else, the vice-captain of the Indian team called a journalist over and, through him, apologised for the incident.
Team director Ravi Shastri spoke to Kohli and advised him to keep his cool as it was “unbecoming of a future India captain to behave in this manner publicly”, PTI quoted its sources as saying.
Team director Ravi Shastri spoke to Kohli and advised him to keep his cool as it was “unbecoming of a future India captain to behave in this manner publicly”, PTI quoted its sources as saying.
The training session was organised ahead of the Indian side's group league game against West Indies at the WACA on Friday.
Kohli's relationship with Anushka has been the subject of numerous articles in the media.