Five reasons why Virat Kohli is not a captain material

Aggression can be a funny thing that, if used properly, can be an asset or can act like a mad elephant in a battlefield that can kill your own soldiers. Something that India’s Test captain Virat Kohli, who was an obvious choice after Mahendra Singh Dhoni called it a day, needs to learn at the earliest.
Most of us interpret aggression in a wrong way and it has nothing to do with hurling abuses or showing dissent on the field. Like Mathew Hayden once famously said, “If you want to see aggression on a cricket field, look into Rahul Dravid‘s eyes.”
Here is a look at some of the past incidents that have landed Virat Kohli into hot water, which did little to improve his game, let alone the uncalled distractions that came along.

Five reasons why Virat Kohli is not a captain material

1) Up goes the middle-finger, January 2012:

The finger in cricket can bring about mixed emotions that can leave one team celebrating a wicket and the other in a bit of disarray. But things can go horribly wrong if the middle finger mistakenly takes the place of the index finger. Australia is one of the most intimidating places to tour as not only the players but also the crowd can get under your skin as Kohli found out during Day 2 of the second Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2012.

2) Gambhir-Kohli verbal spat, April 2013:

Indian Premier League has had its fair share of controversies and in such a list, if we don’t find Kohli’s name then it’s surprising these days. In a match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the sixth edition of IPL, Kohli again made the headlines for the wrong reasons. After hitting Pradeep Sangwan for a couple of sixes, Kohli slashed at a wide one of Lakshmipathy Balaji that led to his dismissal.

3) Umpire in the firing-line in Harare, July 2013:

Kohli was the stand-in-skipper in that series against Zimbabwe and while everything was going India’s way, Kohli decided to take matters into his own hands to create yet another controversy, only this time the umpire was in the firing line.

4) Dhawan, Kohli making a mockery of team spirit, December 2014:

A tour that largely went Australia’s way and saw the Indian batting fall like a pack of cards just went from bad to worse. The on-field performance was bad enough and the unrest in the dressing room didn’t help matters.
Again, no prizes for guessing who was involved in the incident. On the fourth morning of the Brisbane Test match, Shikhar Dhawan took a blow on his wrists while practicing and was unable to resume his innings due to the injury. It was obvious that in the absence of the opener, Kohli, who was slated to come in next had to take the new ball and was dismissed without troubling the scorers too much.
Later, it was reported that Kohli was upset about the fact that he didn’t get any time to prepare before going out there in the middle and also accused Dhawan of faking an injury.
Dhawan reportedly said in reply, “I take pride in playing for the country. If my performance is not up to the mark, I will be willing to sit out, but will not take any insinuation that I faked an injury.”

5) Journalist in the middle of Kohli’s wrath, February 2015:

While all of the above can be termed as an act of immaturity, this one tops the list. After a grueling training session, when Kohli was about to leave the field he saw a pack of journalists in front of him.
To the horror of all those present there, Kohli started hurling the worst of abuses directed towards a journalist and stormed off. Later, it was understood that the reaction was a result of an article that was written on a national daily and Kohli mistakenly thought him to be that journalist.
Although it is learned that he had apologized for his behavior but for a man who is stamped as the next big thing in the country and soon to be the captain of the national team in all formats, it looks downright ridiculous and cheap, let alone an act of mental degradation that needs to be dealt with severely.