Australian newspaper calls Virat Kohli worst international captain since Arjuna Ranatunga

The daily also claimed that Kohli had hurled an energy drink bottle towards an Australian official.

New Delhi: The already intense rivalry between Indian and Australian cricket teams got even worse after Steve Smith was accused of 'cheating' by seeking dressing room's help on whether to review and LBW decision or not during the Bengaluru Test. The whole controversy wasn't even over, and now an Australian newspaper has accused Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble of poor behaviour during the second Test of the series.

The Daily Telegraph claimed Kohli had hurled an energy drink bottle towards an Australian official. Not just that, they even claimed that coach Kumble stormed into the umpires’ room to seek clarification over Kohli’s much-debated leg-before dismissal in the first innings at M Chinnaswamy stadium.

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“Kohli might be the aggressor in the brazen campaign India is running against Australia’s integrity — even striking an Australian official with an orange Gatorade bottle — but coach Kumble, one of the main instigators of the Monkeygate fiasco, would appear to have reclaimed his role as the puppeteer behind the scenes,” the report said.

“It’s understood Kumble has also made his fury known about the actions of the match referee Chris Broad during the Test, complaints which are now to be passed onto the ICC by the BCCI.

“It can be revealed he (Kohli) unleashed an astonishing outburst in the dressing rooms following his dismissal, smashing a Gatorade bottle off a table, where it then rebounded off a television and struck an Australian team official on the leg. Kohli was also swearing in the direction of the Australian box as he left the field and using a throat-slitting gesture to send-off Peter Handscomb late in the Test," the report added.

The daily also termed Kohli as the worst international captain since Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga.

” The spirit of the game notion has been pronounced dead in the game many times before, but Kohli — a law unto himself — would appear to have killed it off once again with his behaviour some of the worst by an international captain since villainous Sri Lankan leader Arjuna Ranatunga.”