India captain Virat Kohli has always been known for having a temper. As he has grown older and more experienced, some of that foul-language laden aggression has diluted. As everyone talks about the incident in the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals which saw MS Dhoni walking on to the pitch to remonstrate with umpires, let's look back at an episode which saw the current India captain giving vent to his emotions in a rather immodest manner.
What actually happened?
The third ODI of a five-match series between India and West Indies in late 2011 was played at Ahmedabad on December 5. West Indies batted first in this day-night game and thanks to some hard-hitting from the lower order, posted a total of 260/5.
The Indians struggled from early on in their innings and lost both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for first-ball ducks. Virat Kohli was now at the crease with Parthiv Patel and trying to resurrect the innings. West Indies had a debutant in their team known by the name Sunil Narine. He was already considered a capable bowler in T20s and was now looking to make a mark in the longer format.
He was brought into the attack inside the first 10 overs and struck immediately. The very first victim of his international career was the in-form Virat Kohli. The wicket came of an innocuous looking delivery that didn't spin much and hit the Indian batsmen on the pads. It looked like a good appeal and the umpire Sudhir Asnani of India obliged by raising his index finger.
Kohli looked like he had seen a ghost and after showing his disbelief at the umpire's decision, walked off hurling the choicest of abuses at him. What was worse, the decision seemed to be perfectly reasonable. Yet Kohli, a man whose hunger for runs has led him to achieve herculean feats as a batsman was fuming. One has to wonder though, if it wasn't an Indian umpire, would Kohli's behaviour have been a little different.
Ramifications
Kohli was reprimanded for his conduct by match referee David Boon but wasn't subjected to any fine or ban. Some weeks later though, a fine did come Kohli's way when he made an obscene gesture at the crowd during a Test in Australia. Around eight years down the line, Kohli is far from being as intemperate as he was then.