Virat Kohli had kicked up a massive storm and was slammed on social media by critics over his "I don't think you should live in India" response to an enthusiast who called the skipper overrated while expressing his admiration for English and Australian batsmen.
However, five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand is not reading too much into the comments and feels that the Indian captain got carried away, became emotional and lost control during his "leave India" comment to a fan on social media, which has now become a full-blown controversy.
'That's the attitude he is comfortable with'
"I think he lost control. He got a bit emotional and he just said the first thing that came to his mind," Anand was as quoted by Press Trust of India on the sidelines of the Tata Steel Chess in Kolkata.
"That's the attitude he is comfortable with. In sport, you see all characters and this is the character that fits him best. I try to be myself and in the end, you should be comfortable in your own skin," he added," Anand further added.
Kohli was reading fan comments on his map and was giving replies.
Reacting to one such comment of a fan Kohli said: "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."
However, Anand believes that enough had been written about the issue and nothing more should be done anything to add on to it.
Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan too supported Kohli and said that his freedom of expression should be acknowledged.
"Fans and Virat have equal freedom of speech. India is a democratic country and everybody has freedom of speech. Even the clarification Virat gave it came because he wanted to clearly state his feelings on the matter," Zaheer told AajTak.
