 "Virat Kohli looks on on Day 3 of the third Test between Australia and India at The Gabba in Brisbane. AP")
Australian media has gone into an offensive against batting star Virat Kohli ahead of the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India in Melbourne, describing him as a “bully”. Kohli was involved in a confrontation with a female reporter representing Channel 7 at the Melbourne airport on Thursday, with the former India captain slamming the cameraperson accompanying her for filming his wife Anushka Sharma and their two children.
“With my kids I need some privacy, you can’t film without asking me,” Kohli had told the cameraperson after arriving in Melbourne from Brisbane, where the rain-marred third Test between India and Australia at The Gabba ended in a draw .
The incident, however, has not gone down well with certain sections of the Australian media, with senior Channel Nine sports presenter Tony Jones tearing into Kohli for “berating” the Channel 7 reporter.
“Nat was out there with a cameraman, a Channel 7 reporter was out there with his cameraman and they were doing what we do on a daily basis essentially, and that’s be at the airport to actually get identities, whether they’re politicians, whether they’re sporting identities or whatever," said Jones, who is also a commentator.
“He took umbrage, he being Virat Kohli, to the fact the cameras were focused on him.
“Well duh! You’re a batting superstar, you’re a global superstar in the world of cricket, and he takes umbrage to the fact that the attention is focused on him,” he added.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsJones added that he was particularly incensed by Kohli appearing to focus his anger on the female reporter more than her male colleagues. The India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru star had reportedly shook the cameraperson’s hand towards the end of the airport confrontation.
“What really got my back up when I saw the footage was that he turned around to the three blokes, the two cameramen and the reporter from Channel 7, and said you guys are OK, it’s her. Really? Big tough man, Virat.
“And then he stood over this girl, Nat Yoannidis, who’s about five foot one, five foot two, and just absolutely berated her. You’re nothing but a bully, Virat,” Jones added.
The Australian press also launched an attack on the Indian team for organising a press conference with Ravindra Jadeja , only for the senior all-rounder to answer all of his questions in Hindi and leave without taking a single question from a local reporter.
Tensions arising from the Jadeja presser, which took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after a training session for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team, led to a friendly game of cricket between Indian and Australian journalists on Sunday getting called off .