Virat Kohli Recalls Sydney Test Row: "I'm So Sorry, Please Don't Ban Me"
Thursday, September 6, 2018 IST
Annoyed by the crowd taunts, Virat Kohli showed his middle finger to a section of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the second Test in 2012.
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India captain Virat Kohli recalled the most embarrassing incidents of his cricketing career when he was he was caught on camera showing the middle finger to fans during the Australia tour in 2012. Annoyed by the crowd taunts, Virat Kohli showed his middle finger to a section of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the second Test in 2012. For his behaviour, Virat Kohli was called by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle in his room and was asked to explain the issue.
"The one thing I remember most is when I'd had enough of the Australian crowd at Sydney [in 2012] and I just decided to flick a [middle] finger at them," he recalled while speaking to Wisden Cricket Monthly.
"The match referee [Ranjan Madugalle] called me to his room the next day and I'm like, 'What's wrong?'.
The referee asked: 'What happened at the boundary yesterday?'
"I said, 'I'm so sorry, please don't ban me!' I got away with that one. He was a nice guy, he understood I was young and these things happen," Kohli recalled.
Following the incident, Kohli had posted a tweet.
Kohli also credited his childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma for the role he has played in shaping his career.
"My coach, Rajkumar Sharma, was always looking at things from the outside and he understood me the most after my family, because I had interacted him so much over the years. My family as well. Every time they felt like I was not on the right path they told me," he said.
"But my coach was the one that was very stern with me. If I was doing something wrong he would make sure that he got that across, one way or the other. He was the only person I was scared of when I was growing up. I went into his academy when I was nine and even now I still speak to him about my game," the Indian skipper added.
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