‘There has been no official complaint from India’ – MCC CEO on Australian crowd heckling Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: X(Twitter/Khatik _mehul)

Virat Kohli has grabbed spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the ongoing fourth Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The veteran shoulder bumped the debutant Australia batter, Sam Konstas and this brought him immense flak from critics and the Australian media. The Australian crowd at the MCG was livid and welcomed him with boos when he come out to bat on Day 2. 

But after playing 86 balls, he scored 36 runs and departed off a delivery outside off-stump, his nemesis. When he was walking back to the pavilion, the crowd near the tunnel gave him a mouthful. He initially ignored the verbal dollies but retorted with a stare towards the crowd who were not ready to stop.

The visuals of the incident have gone viral on social media and Kohli was seen escorted by the security guard after he seemed to have lost his patience. On the other hand, Melbourne Cricket Club CEO, Stuart Fox has spoken up about the heckling Kohli was subjected to and has revealed that neither Kohli nor the BCCI have officially complained about the incident. 

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“You’re never comfortable when you’ve got fans heavily engaging with the player. As the operator, you are just always watching. I went and looked at the vision last night. I have been talking to security this morning. There has been no official complaint from India; they are comfortable. I think a bit of heckling happened late and Kohli obviously popped his head back,” said Fox.

“I’ll be concerned if it was really abusive and (there is) any physical contact or abuse that’s pushing the boundary. That’s where we are always making sure everyone is well behaved. I love Kohli; I love what he has done for our game. I don’t particularly love the booing. I think he should be congratulated on creating the rivalry that he has,” he concluded.