Virat Kohli is no stranger to controversy during his IPL career. There have been clashes with umpires, fights with other players, no shortage of verbal joustings. A tryst with actor Anushka Sharma during a rain break of a match in 2015 in Bengaluru even aroused the ire of anti-corruption authorities.
Four years later, he again created headlines for the wrong reasons.
His team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, appeared to be in control of the run chase against the Mumbai Indians at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They needed 41 from the last four overs.
However, Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga tightened the screws, leaving Bangalore to score seven to win off the last ball. Realistically, they needed a six to tie the game and take it to the Super Over.
But Malinga produced a perfect yorker that Shivam Dube was unable to connect, and Mumbai won by six runs. However, television replays showed that Malinga had overstepped, and it should have been a no-ball. On-field umpire S. Ravi had failed to spot it.
Kohli was enraged when he saw what had happened. During the awards ceremony he made his feelings known, saying that they were playing the IPL not club cricket and the umpires were paid to be alert to such matters. He labelled the call as ridiculous.
He found support from his opposite number Rohit Sharma who said that such incidents were not good for the game, and with the technology available, there were no excuses for what had happened.
Ironically at the time, the umpire in question, Ravi, was the only Indian member of the ICC’s Elite Panel. None of the others was judged to have been of a sufficient standard to be elevated.
Kohli, though, was not finished yet. After the post-match ceremony, he barged into the match referee’s room, hurled abuse at him, and told him that he did not care if he was penalised for violating the code of conduct.
In 2020, the ICC made changes to the laws. Whenever technology is available, the responsibility of mandatorily checking for a front-foot no-ball for every ball now lies solely with the third umpire. They inform the on-field umpires, scorers, and cricketers before the next ball is bowled.