"If you've to fight…": Virat Kohli sent strong message for displaying 'unnecessary aggression' in BGT

India's veteran batter Virat Kohli was surrounded by controversies in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was a tough series for Kohli as he didn't have the form on his side and was also involved in some other issues.

In the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Kohli was involved in a physical altercation with Australia's Sam Konstas when he barged his shoulder into the young debutant. Former India cricketer Saba Karim recently spoke on Kohli's behavior during the series.

Karim was highly critical of Kohli for showing such behavior and asked him to behave like a senior player. He suggested the 36-year-old batter to show the fight and aggression in his batting rather than getting involved in unnecessary issues.

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Saba Karim slams Virat Kohli's behavior

While speaking to SportsNext, Saba Karim slammed Virat Kohli's behavior during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He feels that the debatable umpiring decisions should be consulted with the ICC officials rather than saying things to the opposition.

"I now feel this kind of behaviour does not befit Virat Kohli. He is a senior player now. I agree that there were one or two debatable decisions in Australia this time but they weren't from the Australian umpires. They were from the neutral umpires," Karim replied.

Karim also felt that Kohli should have thought twice before the physical confrontation with Sam Konstas and the crowd. The former India wicketkeeper felt that things went out of hand in the series for Kohli.

"If there is any doubt about technology as well, that should be discussed with the ICC or the broadcasters and producers. Behaving like that with the crowd and having a conversation like that with Sam Konstas is not right. I feel things are going too far," he reckoned.

Virat Kohli slammed for showing "unnecessary aggression"

Saba Karim further suggested Virat Kohli to show his fight on the ground with his performance instead of getting involved in an on-field confrontation with the opposition. He cited the examples of the players who showed aggression with their performance.

"If you have to fight on the ground, do it with runs, with your performance, by taking wickets, and winning matches. The unnecessary aggression we see many times on the ground has become too much," Karim noted.

"Aggression should be through runs or performance as was shown by Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy to an extent," he added.

Virat Kohli's controversies in BGT 2024-25

Virat Kohli was involved in a shoulder collision with Australia's Sam Konstas on the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Both the players exchanged a few words between them and had to be calmed down by the umpire and Usman Khawaja.

During the tour, Kohli was also seen arguing with a reporter for filming his family without his consent outside the Melbourne airport. During the fifth Test, he was seen making some gestures to the crowd about the allegations of using sandpaper.

The Australian crowd booed Kohli and he kept provoking them after picking every wicket. Coming to his numbers, Kohli scored 190 runs in five Tests at an average of 23.75. He scored a hundred in the first Test but his numbers started dwindling from the second Test match.