BCCI warns Kohli, says 'maintain dignity of the Indian team'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has taken a serious view of Virat Kohli’s foul-mouthed tirade against an Indian journalist at the ongoing World Cup and asked him to refrain from “any such behaviour in the future”.

A statement from its secretary, Anurag Thakur, said the board has been in touch with the Indian team management on the issue and taken note of the incident that occurred at Perth a couple of days ago and “advised the player that this kind of incident should not be repeated”.

- 'People thought I was too arrogant with my spiky hair, tattoos and all'

- Don't Miss! The Rediff Cricket Show

- The World Cup, as never before on Rediff.com

"The BCCI respects the role played by the media in covering and popularizing the game of cricket, and acknowledges the support of the media, in its mission to administer and promote the game of cricket in India.

"The player in question has been told to maintain the dignity of the Indian team at all times, and avoid any such behaviour in the future.

"The BCCI would like to request the concerned parties to move on, and focus on the Indian cricket team’s campaign in the ongoing ICC CWC 2015," added the statement.

On Tuesday, Kohli allegedly lost his cool after the team’s training session in Perth, ahead of India's group league game against the West Indies at the WACA on Friday, and hurled expletives at a journalist.

Once he was done with his training and returning to the dressing room, India's premier batsman confronted Jasvinder Sidhu of the Hindustan Times. To the horror of that journalist, Kohli used filthy language for some time before storming off. Some members of the Indian team who were nearby, as also the journalist, were stunned, wondering what exactly had happened.

Once Kohli cooled down he told someone about an article that had appeared about him and his girlfriend Anushka Sharma in a national daily and said he thought it was that particular journalist who had written the story.

When he was told that he had mistaken this particular reporter for someone else, Kohli called one of the journalists and through him apologised for the incident.

Image: Virat Kohli at India's training session in Perth on Thursday.

Photograph: Vipin Pawar/Solaris Images