Mumbai: In 2012, India’s middle order batsman Virat Kohli showed his middle finger to a section of the crowd during the second day of the second test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and was charged with Level 2 of the ICC's Code of Conduct. (Showing middle finger in public is believed to be an offence).
Now, Team India's 25-year-old batting star may face criticism for allegedly not turning up to show the ink on his index finger. Kohli is believed to have abstained from voting even though he was in Delhi on April 10 and that too when last year he had been part of an awareness campaign for the Delhi elections. This year he was chosen as ambassador of the new voters.
Kohli, now on IPL duty in UAE could not be contacted and phone calls to his mother, Saroj were not answered. However, according to his coach, Rajkumar Sharma, Kohli was in Bangalore on April 10. "He (Kohli) is fond of voting. He was in India, but not in Delhi", his personal coach said.
If Sachin Tendulkar could come specially to India for voting, it is baffling why Kohli could not spare a few hours and missed this opportunity.
When this was brought to the notice of the Election Commissioner in Delhi, he promised to look into the matter.
"Any citizen of India is free to decide whether to vote or not, but yes, when he has been anointed as ambassador for elections, it should have been his moral duty to vote", Dr Nasim Zaidi, Election Commissioner, said over phone from Delhi.
"On Monday, I shall ask my people to check whether he (Virat Kohli) had turned up at the poll booth", he signed off.
Interestingly, Bollywood hottie and Kohli’s “special friend”, Anushka Sharma, also did not cast her vote as she was away in Rajasthan on the set of a film.
