Virat Kohli’s fiery and straightforward nature has its own pros and cons. While it adds an X-factor to the India cricket captain’s game, at times it also tends to land him in problems.
The 30-year-old, who sent his fans Diwali wishes through a Twitter post on Wednesday, finds himself embroiled in a controversy over one of his comments to a cricket enthusiast though his recently-launched app.
In a video that has gone viral, Kohli is seen reading out tweets and Instagram messages. One of the messages from a user called the India captain overrated and that the owner of over 18,000 International runs has nothing special in his batting.
“Over-rated batsman and personally I see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians,” was what the cricket enthusiast’s message was as read out by Kohli.
To that, Virat responded by saying: “Okay, I don’t think you should live in India then… You should go and live somewhere else, no? Why are you living in our country and loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me, but I don’t think you should live in our country and like other things. Get your priorities right.”
His comment did not go down well with many and the icon was trolled for it.
Kohli launched his mobile app — Virat Kohli app — on November 5, which is also his birthday. In a video message on Twitter during the launch, Kohli said: “…As promised to you all, I’m going to connect to all of you at a more personal level now and you will have access to a lot more things about me that you don’t know, or you haven’t seen in the past… which I’m sure you all are very excited about.”
The app lets Kohli’s fans receive latest news and updates about him and also is a platform for the cricketer to interact directly with cricket enthusiasts.
The app has a quiz section where one can earn points from correct answers. The points can be redeemed while ordering exclusive Virat Kohli merchandise. The app has a dedicated store from where one can purchase the merchandise.
Recently, Kohli became the fastest batsman to reach 10,000 ODI runs. He reached the milestone in just 205 innings, bettering Sachin Tendulkar’s previous record of 259 innings.
He has been rested from the ongoing T20I series against the West Indies, but was in top form in the Test and ODI series that preceded shortest format. In the Test series, he finished as the top run-getter with 453 runs at an average of 151.00. In the one-dayers, he slammed a hat-trick of centuries in the first three ODIs, a first by an Indian.
Kohli’s Twitter post, accompanying a picture of him and wife Anushka, on Wednesday read: “A very happy and prosperous Diwali to everyone from our home. Wishing everyone peace, happiness and good health. God bless.”
