Amidst the Australian crowd being so rude to Virat Kohli, support was raised from a former England cricketer. Mark Nicholas said he felt bad about fans’ behavior when Kohli entered the ground.
Ever since the beginning of Virat Kohli’s career, there has been a mix of admiration and hatred from the Australian crowd.
This time, the Indian star cricketer was booed for shoulder-barge to Australia’s debutant player Sam Konstas. This incident during the 4th Test match at MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), where on the 1st day, Sam Konstas was brilliantly facing Jasprit Bumrah’s delivery. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s act of shoulder-barge initiated a quarrel between them.
England for India against Australia!
Booing the greatest cricketer is not right, and former England cricketer Mark Nicholas was firm with this stance. He took a stand for Virat Kohli and opposed the behavior of the Australian crowd.
At the same time, Mark Nicholas accepts that Virat Kohli has a fault on his side and he shouldn’t have indulged in activities like shoulder-barge. But it doesn’t mean people will boo and criticize a cricketer who has achieved a lot in his cricketing career.
Mark Nicholas reiterated that we should not forget that Virat Kohli is undoubtedly amongst the greatest ambassadors of Test cricket, and he doesn’t deserve this hatred or booing.
By supporting Virat Kohli, here is what Mark Nicholas spoke to Star Sports:
“Yeah! When Virat Kohli arrived at the crease and got ready to play, the booing was too much! I know, and I also agree that Virat Kohli shouldn’t have indulged in such an activity, he shouldn’t have shoulder-barged the young Australian cricketer Sam Konstas. We must consider that Virat Kohli should have avoided any controversies as it was Sam Konstas’s first game ever. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget how great Virat has been in cricket, and he deserves respect. It is insane what the crowd has been doing with one of the greatest cricketers.”
Booed for Performance? Or Arrogance?
Already, Virat Kohli was booed a lot during the blunder failure which caused Yashaswi Jaiswal to run out. Amidst that, Virat indulged in a shoulder-barge controversy with the Australian Sam Konstas. The debutant player of Australia is 17 years younger than the Indian star cricketer, so he must have let go and not indulged in quarrel, but Virat couldn’t control.
Former Indian Cricketers have mentioned earlier that Virat Kohli is a player who had built his career on “arrogance”. So now, when he got to see a similar version of himself right in front of his eyes, he couldn’t tolerate it.
Well, the trolling or booing isn’t just for one single thing because while Yashasvi Jaiswal was batting, India seemed to be in a good position to get bigger runs. But that 102-run partnership ended carelessly and fans posted their backlashes on Virat Kohli for not responding to the batsman on the other side.
Mass Boeing Virat Kohli at Sydney Cricket Ground
On one side, Virat Kohli is being criticized for his performance, and on the other side, the Australian crowd is severely booing him. All these are happening especially after he indulged in a controversial act against the Australian debut player.
Moreover, the ace Indian batter who was known for his domination in tests on Australian soil has been in woeful form in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, scoring just 190 runs in 9 innings, including a century at a batting average of 23.75.
Indian fans hoped that Kohli in the fifth and final test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) would complete the 5-match test series on a memorable note by returning to form. In contrast to expectations, the 36-year-old failed to make a mark in both innings scoring just 17 and 6 runs.
Virat Kohli’s Fiery Reaction to MCG Fans After Being Booed in Boxing Day Test BGT 2024-25
On Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test at MCG, Virat Kohli was hot-tempered after being booed by the Australian crowd that stormed the social media with mixed reactions.
The veteran batter was dismissed after scoring 36 runs out of 86 balls (including 4 fours) and while returning to the pavilion he almost walked down the tunnel.
Getting fed up with the abusive comments, he couldn’t control himself and turned back walking a couple of steps towards the spectator at stands, and stared furiously. However, the ground officials entered the scene before Kohli could go after the undisciplined spectator and prevented the issue from getting even worse. Finally, Virat walked back to the dressing room after the official calmed him down by placing a hand on his shoulder.
Is Australian Media Making Virat Kohli a Villain? Final Opinion
The Australian media insulted Virat Kohli and tagged him as a “Clown”, “Crybaby”, and “Sook”. He became the No.1 enemy for MCG fans after the shoulder bumping incident with Sam Konstas on Day 1.
However, he was fined 20% of his match fee and handed a demerit point for breaching ICC’s Level 1 Code of Conduct. Yet, the Australian Newspaper “The West Australian” slammed Virat Kohli by adding a clown’s nose onto his face as the back page photo with the headline “Clown Kohli”.
Ultimately, the Indian fans defended the batting stalwart claiming that the Australian media purposefully slammed Virat Kohli to gain more attention knowing that he is a brand value, instead of focusing on Sam Konstas’ impressive test debut.
