IPL 6: Mumbai fans forget that Virat Kohli plays for India too

FILE PHOTO: Virat Kohli was booed by the crowd in Wankhede yesterday

One of the most heart-breaking and disappointing scenes for a cricketer and true cricketing fans took place at the Wankhede stadium yesterday when India’s batting sensation Virat Kohli was booed and called a cheater by the Mumbai crowd.

Virat, when going into the post match ceremony, was booed by the Mumbai crowd. When told by the anchor Harsha Bhogle that they don’t really mean it, Kohli said -

“IPL is not the end of the world. Well, they’re forgetting that even I play for India. It’s happened to a few other players in the stadium, so I’m not surprised.”

These lines are enough to bring tears to the eyes of Indian cricket fans.

For those who missed out on this incident, it all started with Ambati Rayadu getting run-out by a brilliant piece of fielding by Kohli who aimed directly at the stumps and found the target. Rayudu fell short after getting into a tangle with the bowler, an unintentional incident. Now, any batsman would ground his bat at least a foot or two wide from the place where the bowler is standing to collect the ball, but in case of Rayudu, his collision with Vinay Kumar resulted in his bat lifting off the ground when ball hit the stumps. Virat was also involved in an argument with Pollard.

After this incident, whenever Virat collected the ball on the field, the stadium echoed with chants of ‘cheater’, and he was constantly booed by the crowd. Now, where did we see Virat cheating? How was it in any way Virat’s mistake? Did he really deserve such a reaction from the crowd?

He is the same Virat Kohli who came in at No. 4 in the 2011 World Cup final and the same Mumbai crowd welcomed him with loud cheers. He is the same person who has helped India achieve victory on a number of occasions.

Now, many of you must have formed a view that “This is IPL boss, where friends become enemies and enemies, friends.” But how does that explain the crowd behaviour in places like Bangalore? Whether their team is losing or winning, the crowd supports every player on his merit, and not just based on the franchise for which he is playing. Whether it is Gayle hitting a six or Dhoni taking his helicopter off, both get equal cheers from the fans.

The incident we witnessed at Wankhede yesterday made me and also billions of cricket fans around the country seriously angry. We Indians always remember one thing – before IPL, comes India. Just imagine how Kohli would feel when he next walks in to bat at Wankhede. Yesterday was a black day for IPL and Indian cricket for me.

Our own country’s fans called Kohli a cheater. Now what can we expect from the fans of other countries?

One can only hope that the Mumbai fans realise their mistake and make up for their behaviour in upcoming matches.