Perth/New Delhi, Mar 4:
The controversy surrounding Virat Kohli’s abusive behaviour with an Indian journalist refused to subside today despite the team management’s efforts to play it down with complaints being made to the ICC and BCCI about the episode.
The BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said that it was a case of misunderstanding and the issue should be put to rest immediately to let the team focus on the World Cup.
“He (Kohli) has clarified on the issue. For India, the ongoing World Cup is very important. We need to put all these issues to rest and indirectly has communicated that he misunderstood the situation. Let’s put this matter to an end,” Thakur said today when asked about the incident.
“In future I think these kind of incidents should be avoided and taken care of. I have not spoken to players yet, the team management is there, taking care of all the players’ needs,” said the 40-year-old, who was elected as BCCI secretary at the board’s AGM held in Chennai on Sunday.
The team management issued a brief statement saying that, “there was a misunderstanding and no abusive language was used. Virat has spoken to the concerned gentleman immediately and matter ends.”
However, the Hindustan Times, whose reporter was abused by Kohli, has filed complaints with the ICC and the BCCI.
“I have written a letter to the BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya after consulting our Editor-in-Chief. I have asked Dalmiya to look into the incident. The reporter in question, Jasvinder Sidhu, has also informed the ICC about the incident,” HT Sports Editor Sukhwant Basra said.
The newspaper is also examining whether Kohli had violated any law applicable in that country and could consider the option of legal action against the star cricketer. (PTI)
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