- Against Mumbai Indians, IPL 2013:
“I don’t know what is wrong with people in this venue. It feels a bit weird because at the end of the day you play for India and you don’t come here to be hated. It has happened to a few players in the past as well. I don’t know why they get so worked up during IPL. IPL is not the end of the world. They forget that the players they are booing for also play for their country. It is only creating hatred among the players. When I come back and play for India, they are going to cheer for me. It doesn’t work that way.”
Kohli said this in the post match presentation, in an IPL game against the Mumbai Indians in April 2013 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. The crowd went on to boo Kohli and even called him a “cheater” openly just because he didn’t withdraw an appeal towards Ambati Rayudu, who seemed to be out in controversial circumstances.
The quote though, made it obvious that Kohli would make himself pretty clear, be it the crowd of his very own nation. In a way, he did address the hypocrisy of the Mumbai crowd in the right way.