India captain Virat Kohli called out for his ‘intimidation’ of umpires

Virat Kohli's familiar on-field histrionics may have gone too far in the second Test after he was seen berating the umpires TWICE during the third day.

The Indian skipper has a long history of high jinks on the field, getting under the skin of the opposition, winding up the crowd and interacting with umpires in a way that have raised a few eyebrows.

This time he was accused of 'intimidating' the officials and 'crossing the line' by several pundits who called Kohli out on his behaviour.

The first instance was when he was warned for running down the pitch while batting, something that is a big no-no, especially when the advantage to his team bowling last is so clear.

Rather than accept the warning, Kohli strongly protested his innocence with the umpires out in the middle and that didn't sit well with former England captain Andrew Strauss on Channel 4.

“That’s one of these situations where he has let himself down,” said Strauss. “He doesn’t need to do that. It’s very deliberate.

“There is no reason to be going across the pitch unless you are trying to scuff it up. And then to add insult to injury with ‘well, what have I done wrong?’ type thing.

“I know that opposition players get very frustrated where they feel he gets preferential treatment in India.

“Well done for the umpire there for not giving him preferential treatment. He called him out on it.”

After adding 96 with Ravichandran Ashwin, Kohli was eventually dismissed for 62 by Moeen Ali for the second time in the match.

After watching Ashwin reach his 5 ^th Test hundred and first on his home ground, Kohli was able to take the field having set England a fanciful 482 to win.

Buoyed by the giant target, Kohli was happy to pump up the crowd from slip, and they reacted with plenty of noise.

But when a close lbw shout against Joe Root was turned down on review by the third umpire, Kohli reacted with more noise of his own towards the umpire in what some thought was intimidation.

"Virat Kohli's having a real go at the umpire,” said former England skipper Michael Vaughan on the BBC. “You can't have this, I'm sorry.

“Kohli is such a powerhouse, you can't have him intimidating the umpire. It's a stinker of a decision but you can't be doing that as a captain. That's a bad look."

Former England international Ebony Rainford-Brent added on Channel 4: "He crossed the line today.

"He was a little bit too edgy today, it is different when you are ahead."

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