The third and final ODI between South Africa and India are currently going on. However, former India captain Virat Kohli has been in the news for quite some time now – be it his controversial comments on the press conference or poor form.
However, he recently came under the scanner as he was seen chewing something while standing for the national anthem.
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Virat Kohli busy chewing something while National Anthem is playing. Ambassador of the nation.@BCCI pic.twitter.com/FiOA9roEkv
— Vaayumaindan (@bystanderever) January 23, 2022
Here is how Twitterati reacted:
You can always rewind it after the Anthem is over to record it ! Defending Kohli on everything isn't mandatory right?
— Hardik (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Humor_Silly) January 23, 2022
Such a shameless act.This is rediculous.
— vivek sharma (@sharma547vivek) January 23, 2022
Poor guy once asked people to not burst crackers and now this..
As per #viratkholi National Anthem: ye kya hota h
Will gonna do my next add for chewing gum
Priorities matters!!
He never disappoints.@imVkohli @BCCI @SGanguly99— Rajeev Rajput🇮🇳 (@TheRoyalRaajput) January 23, 2022
Hey @imVkohli dude WTF! are you doing seriously I'm feel so ashamed my self being a fan of you this is not good thing man just grow up😡😡😡😡
— Swamy~JSY (@ShravSwami) January 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/TamzaKhabar/status/1485219931843346434?s=20
Meanwhile, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has backed Virat Kohli to overcome his tough times and bounce back as he asked him to focus more on his batting. While speaking exclusively to Sports Tak from Oman, Shoaib Akhtar opened up on this.
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“It was a tight scenario for Virat. I was in Dubai and I was aware that if he wouldn’t have won the T20 World Cup, it would have become a big problem for him and it did happen. There are lobbies against him and there are people against him and that is the reason why he stepped down,” Shoaib Akhtar told India Today.
“Whoever enjoys the star status, will always face problems but there’s nothing to fear about. Anushka (Kohli’s wife) is a very nice lady and Virat is a great guy. He just needs to be brave and not be afraid of anything. The whole country loves him, just that these are testing times for him and he needs to come strongly out of it,” he stated.
However, Shoaib Akhtar also added that Virat Kohli has to work hard.
“Now that it has happened, he needs to work hard now and not work too hard. Keep it simple and just play his normal cricket. Captaincy is not an easy job – you have to handle a lot of things and there is a lot of tension that comes with that job,” he said.
“If he can give good performances in the next five-six months, he will be happy to have quit captaincy and would tell himself that he can score 120 international hundreds. His next 50 centuries will be because of the anger that he has now. And, this anger does not have to be reflected on people but in his batting,” Shoaib Akhtar concluded
