5 Times Indian Cricketers Got Angry At Journalist’s Questions: The love-hate relationship between Indian cricketers and journalists have been going on since the national team came into effect. Over the years, especially because of the advent of social media, cricketers have had to increase their interactions with journalists.
Indian cricketers, in particular the captains, hog the most limelight, praise as well as criticism from journalists. For the mass following of fans always comes up with questions, theories, and speculations that needed to be tended to.
There have been times when players have felt angry, bitter, frustrated at being asked some questions that they either didn’t want to face or were disappointed to listen to.
Here are 5 times when star Indian cricketers lost their cool when asked about certain topics by journalists:
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli’s tenure as a Test captain was highly successful and it had started on a great note in home conditions. India won all their home Test series under Kohli. But the first time they went to South Africa in January 2018, Kohli’s team fell 2-0 behind in the 3-Test series and on the radar of the journalist was the Indian captain who had runged in a lot of changes in his Test captaincy tenure.
When confronted with the fact that Kohli had made at least one change in almost all of his first 30 Tests as skipper, he retorted asking how many had India won which was about two-thirds. When asked about dominance at home, Kohli snapped back saying a win is a win, doesn’t matter away or home.
After a moment, Kohli got back to the same journalist and asked, “How many times South Africa came close to winning games in India, can you count”?
You can watch the conversation here:
Mithali Raj
Former India women’s captain Mithali Raj gave a fitting reply to a journalist who asked her who is her favourite male cricketer! This was during the pre-tournament press conference of the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England. Mithali Raj was upset with this line of questioning and made it very clear.
“Do you ask them [male cricketers] who their favourite female cricketer is?” she said back.
“I have always been asked who’s your favourite cricketer but you should ask them who their favourite female cricketer is,” Mithali questioned the reporter.
This response from the legendary batsman got great praises from fans across the globe.
Kapil Dev
One of the most expressive Indian captains, Kapil Dev opened up on the allegation of taking money and fixing events in the game or the entire game while talking on
on the show, Hard Talk India with Karan Thapar broadcasted on BBC in 2000.
An emotional Kapil tore into these accusations, saying “I will commit suicide rather than take a bribe. Who wants money. Take all my money. I come from a family where pride is more important than anything else.”
When asked about former cricket board chief Inderjit Bindra’s claim on TV that allrounder Manoj Prabhakar had told him that Kapil Dev had offered him Rs.25 lakh for underperforming in an ODI game in Sri Lanka, the 1983 World Cup winning skipper said that these were all “third party allegations”. “I am sick of third party allegations. Please for God’s sake become the first party and say what happened,” he demanded sternly.
Yuvraj Singh
This incident is from 2016 when Yuvraj Singh wasn’t a regular member of the side and had been sidelined due to poor form, struggling with fitness and, more importantly, other batters doing well in the ODI side.
Yuvraj and Kohli attended an event together organized by the latter for charity causes. As Singh was leaving, one reporter asked him about speculations that Kohli may become the next limited-overs skipper as MS Dhoni is about to step down.
Yuvraj’s reaction went viral as he cracked back promptly at the reporter, saying “I am here only for the event, not to talk cricket,” and rushed away.
Later, this became viral and the all-rounder tweeted that he didn’t say anything incorrect.
to kya galat bola ji I’m here to to talk about the event not cricket !not angry at all just being professional! Kuch bhi
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) June 6, 2016
MS Dhoni
And one for the man who has hardly lost his cool – the iceman, MS Dhoni. But on this occasion, the tension of the situation got to even Dhoni. This was during India’s dreadful tour of England in 2011 when they were whitewashed 4-0.
There were plenty of rumours and speculations regarding Virender Sehwag’s fitness and injury as the opener missed the first two Tests.
When asked for an update on Sehwag’s injury, Dhoni first smiled and didn’t answer. When asked again, Dhoni seemed annoyed and sternly said that the BCCI will give them any update.
Watch the video here:
