"Just started talking about team combination and giving tips" - When Virat Kohli got mad at freakish fan interaction after ENG vs IND 2014 tour

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli recalled in 2023 a fan providing him and former captain MS Dhoni tips after their disastrous 2014 England tour. Team India suffered a 1-3 series defeat in Tests despite taking a 1-0 lead after the first two matches.

Even with Dhoni leading the side, the wheels came off for Team India in the second half of the series as they lost the final three Tests by huge margins. Meanwhile, Kohli endured his worst-ever Test series in the 2014 England tour, averaging a dismal 13.40 in 10 innings.

Recalling a flight trip after the 2014 UK tour in a podcast with RCB in 2023, Virat Kohli said (via Hindustan Times):

"He (the fan) met MS and was obviously excited. But then he just started talking about team combination and captaincy and started giving tips. Dhoni was pretty patient and was hearing nicely. Till then the entire team started shouting 'Coach! Coach!' as he was trying to coach everyone and that's when he laughed it off and went back to his seat. It was a funny moment."

It was Dhoni's second consecutive Test series loss in England after the humiliating 0-4 defeat in 2011.

"Told him that he should become the chairman in next three months" - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli admitted he was agitated by the fan's advice on the flight, prompting him to respond. The champion batter was only three years into his Test career, with the spotlight all over him after the dismal Test series in England.

In his first England Test tour, Kohli was constantly troubled by the line outside off-stump, especially against James Anderson.

"I got up from my seat, that guy saw me and went 'Kohli, what's going on? 'I expect a hundred from you in the next game'. I was young that flicked the switch in me. I asked him which company did he work for and what was his position, and told him that he should become the chairman in next three months. When he said how was that possible, I tried to make him understand that even I was trying hard but it isn't a video game," said Kohli (via the aforementioned source).

Virat Kohli rebounded in style in India's next Test tour of England in 2018, finishing as the leading run-scorer with 593 runs at an average of 59.30, including two centuries. Yet, his side lost the five-match series 1-4.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran