Virat Kohli is one of the most animated cricketers in the world and is known for wearing his heart on his sleeves. Besides being one of the finest batsmen in recent cricketing antiquity, he has also established himself as a salient moniker in the roster of captains in the cricketing world.
He likes to emote openly on the ground, irrespective of the fact that whatever be the emotions be, may it be joy, sorrow, content, happiness, pain or rage. The fans have always been divided whenever it came to applauding this trait of his.
One faction of his fans has always showered him with utmost love and adulation for being vocal about his feelings while the other half believes that along with his articulations he must know the line of demarcation that distinguishes a great sportsman from being an angry skipper with the latter being too frequently questioned for his tactics.
In one such similar display of frustration, Kohli caught the eye of the world yesterday that saw him slamming the boundary cushion and ramming the chair upside down with a frenetic wave of his blade. This led him to be fined by IPL as their Code of Conduct was infringed and a further admonition was imposed on the RCB skipper.
We will be looking at three instances where Kohli crossed the line as per the books of IPL and was fined a hefty amount that left a bad taste in his and his franchise’s mouth.
1. Slow over-rate against Pune Super Giants in 2016
The year that saw Kohli at his finest in IPL was also the one that saw Kohli being levied with a hefty fine of Rs 12 lakh as Royal Challengers Bangalore was bowling at an exceptionally tardy over rate. Despite the Challengers coming up trumps in the game, thanks to wonderful knocks from Kohli and ABD, the ending wasn’t exactly as planned for the Indian skipper.
2. Slow over-rate against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2020
Royal Challengers Bangalore had a woeful outing against Kings XI Punjab which has now been rechristened as the Punjab Kings in their first match-up in the preceding year. KL Rahul was off to a seraphic start and the Bangalore bowlers simply couldn’t do anything about it. Despite countless strategies being shaped, none of them actually saw the light of the day as Rahul single-handedly went for an unprecedented onslaught that also saw him smoking a blistering ton. However, the man responsible for allowing Rahul to complete his century was Kohli who dropped him twice while the former was batting on 83 and then on 89. As he came out to bat, Sheldon Cottrell made a quick work of him, returning him to the dugout for just a solitary run.
However, these weren’t the only infractions that marred Kohli’s evening that day. With everything said and done, RCB bowled at a woefully slow over rate which definitely comprised countless failed ploys to contain Rahul. Virat had to shell out a staggering Rs 12 lakhs as a fine for the same.
3. Kohli slamming the boundary cushion and a chair against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021
The Challengers definitely had the laugh last yesterday when they successfully defended a modest total to deny a victory to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, however, things weren’t exactly rosy for them from the very beginning.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder and Rashid Khan kept things extremely tight at one end that led to constant pressure on the Bangalore batters and it also resulted in regular fall of wickets in the first innings. Kohli was the only man who kept on holding out the innings from one end and when he finally managed to strike a fruitful partnership with Glenn Maxwell, the West Indies skipper, Jason Holder managed to get the better of him as Vijay Shankar ran down almost a mile to complete a fine catch.
As Kohli realized that he had lost another opportunity to craft a big knock and thrown his wicket unnecessarily, he was excessively frustrated with himself and while going out of the ground, hammered the boundary cushion and topped an empty chair on the sidelines. Though he escaped the menace of a fine, he was still reprimanded for his menacing act along the sidelines by BCCI as he was found in transgression of the IPL Code of Conduct.
