Kohli advised to end row with journalist

March 05, 2015 04:03 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:15 pm IST - Perth

India's Virat Kohli waves to fans during their Cricket World Cup Pool B match against the United Arab Emirates in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Feb 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Theron Kirkman)

India's Virat Kohli waves to fans during their Cricket World Cup Pool B match against the United Arab Emirates in Perth, Australia, Saturday, Feb 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Theron Kirkman)

Not too impressed with Virat Kohli’s abusive behaviour towards a journalist recently, former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and V.V.S. Laxman on Thursday called on the star batsman to resolve the row amicably with the concerned scribe.

Gavaskar and Laxman admitted that dealing with the media was never easy but they have never lost their cool in public even at the worst of times.

“I just try to see myself in front of the mirror and try to remove from my system all those which bother me and try to be cool under severe pressure. I wish I could be as cool as M S Dhoni or a Laxman. May be a Bjorn Borg (legendary tennis player), so cool under immense pressure,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

“Media plays an important role. All the stakeholders -- the players, administrators, media, fans and then the sponsors, they should work together to take cricket forward.

Having said that the media should report as they see, the facts and not what they have heard, not speculative stories,” he added.

Laxman said the best way to end the row would be for Kohli to apologise to the concerned journalist.

“I think that is the mutual way to lay the matter to rest. Kohli can go up to the concerned journalist and say that ‘I mistook you as some other journalist’ Then the matter can be done and dusted,” he said.

“I have never lost my cool except on one occasion and that incident is known to everybody. But that was within the four walls of the dressing room, never in public,” Laxman added.

West Indian legend Brian Lara also felt that Kohli and the media should move ahead.

“It (relationship with the media) is very tough, never easy. I had run-ins with the media. These things may happen but I think both the parties should move ahead for the good of the game and concentrate on the World Cup,” he said.

“I am a West Indian and from the perspective of our team, I hope it distracts the Indian team. Kohli may be either perturbed or get more determined and I hope it (the row) affects him,” Lara said in a lighter vein.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.