Don't Think Virat Kohli Will Really Be Proud Of What He Said: Aakash Chopra

Former India cricket Aakash Chopra has said Virat Kohli would not be ‘proud of what he said’ after the India skipper’s ‘leave India’ remark.

Virat Kohli has made a habit of grabbing the limelight more often than not. But usually, the star cricketer hits the headlines for his run-scoring exploits on the field. However, earlier this week , he was all over the news for all the wrong reasons. The India skipper landed in hot waters after he asked a fan to ‘leave India’ when he came to know that the fan loved English and Australian batsmen more than the ‘overrated’ Indian batsmen.

Kohli launched his mobile app on his 30th birthday on November 5. He read out social media messages and reacted after reading a particular tweet on his app.

“Over-rated batsman and personally I see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians,” Kohli read out the tweet from a fan during his app launch.

Unimpressed by the comment, Kohli did not hold back and hit out at the fan.

“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,” Kohli replied.

https://twitter.com/Hramblings/status/1059718366288637953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1059718366288637953&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatoday.in%2Fsports%2Fcricket%2Fstory%2Fvirat-kohli-controversy-aakash-chopra-1384712-2018-11-08

But Kohli soon found himself in the middle of the storm for his comment. He faced criticism from several quarters and the latest to join the bandwagon is Aakash Chopra.

“I don’t think this is what Virat Kohli is or this is what he actually thinks. In the last 18-24 months we have seen a lot of maturity with regard to how he speaks, what he actually portrays in the public domain…in all the post match interviews he’s someone who’s is not happy to take credit himself. But he’s happy to be very, very modest and humble.

“It does surprise me. What he has said is something, yes, disappointing, unacceptable but then freedom of expression allows us to say what we want and I also feel social media at times gets the worst out of us. He was trying to address a mean tweet perhaps he had gone through a multiple mean tweets before reacting or choosing to react to one…he could have done better. When he’ll look back at it, I don’t think he’ll really be proud of what he said,” Chopra told India Today.

Meanwhile, Kohli on Thursday took to Twitter to clarify why he made that comment.

“I guess trolling isn’t for me guys, I’ll stick to getting trolled! I spoke about how “these Indians” was mentioned in the comment and that’s all. I’m all for freedom of choice. Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all,” Kohli tweeted.

I guess trolling isn't for me guys, I'll stick to getting trolled! ?
I spoke about how "these Indians" was mentioned in the comment and that's all. I’m all for freedom of choice. ? Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all. ✌?

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 8, 2018