Kohli forced to apologise for rant at journalist

Thursday, 5 March 2015 02:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sport: India’s Virat Kohli has been forced to apologise to a journalist after an ill-directed, foul-mouthed rant. Hindustan Times reporter Jasvinder Sidhu was in Brisbane covering the World Cup when he saw Kohli waving his finger at him and screaming during a practice session.

“Despite the distance, I could hear invectives like g***u and be***hod pretty clearly,” Sidhu wrote. “His furiously wagging index finger left no room for doubt — I was clearly the victim of his scorn. However, to confirm, just in case, I pointed towards myself and gestured if he was talking to me. The confirmation came with another gesticulation. “Unable to believe that I was the one being singled out, I looked askance in either direction. Huffing and puffing, Kohli said, ‘Yes, you ba****d. You are here also.’ “It came as a shocker to me. I told the guys beside me that I was clueless about his anger being directed at me. I didn’t understand why he was trying to intimidate me without any possible provocation. Before I could gather myself, he walked towards the dressing room with his kit in hand, murmuring continuously, “m** ki c***”. He was staring at me all this while without batting an eyelid. “The abuses kept coming till he disappeared into the dressing room. Fellow journalists kept asking what had happened but I too was as clueless as them. All this happened in the span of about 15 minutes and it was only later I learned why he was targeting me.” Kohli however had mistaken Sidhu for another Indian journalist who had penned a piece about the cricketer and his actress girlfriend. So he emerged from the change rooms with a friendly wave for Sidhu. The India team manager also forced Kohli to apologise for the incident but he did that through another journalist, and not to Sidhu’s face. An unsatisfactory apology as far as Sidhu was concerned.