Under-fire Virat Kohli, on Friday, found support from unprecedented quarters! Former Indian cricketers Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag have come out in favour of the Indian cricket captain who has been receiving a lot of flak for his ‘leave India’ comment. Kohli’s former colleagues have come out in the open and said that it is a player’s freedom of choice.

Former Indian fast bowler, Zaheer Khan has said that India is a democratic country and every player has a freedom of choice. Talking to a news channel, Zaheer said, “Fans and Virat have equal freedom of speech. India is a democratic country, and everybody has freedom of speech. Even the clarification Virat gave it came because he wanted to clearly state his feelings on the matter.”

Virender Sehwag, who has been quite active on social media and doesn’t mince words while speaking his mind, has also backed his former colleague. Sehwag said, “Fans have the right to choose their favourite players and so do the players. Only the media blows up incidents like these and creates controversies.”

Earlier, the Indian skipper had got into another controversy when former South African cricketer Paul Harris commented Kohli. Harris said, “If he (Rabada) has to then everyone does. I watched Kohli behave like a clown for three tests here in SA and nothing. It seems to me that @ICC either have an issue with Rabada or with the Proteas in general."

Replying to the comment, Kohli first asked about the incident, "When was this?" and later ridiculed him saying "Who is he, is he a cricketer?”

Recently, during his app launch, Virat Kohli had answered a question saying that an individual living in India should leave the country if you love other countries and players!

Kohli said, “Okay, I don’t think you should live in India then...you should go and live somewhere else, no? Why are you living in our country and loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me but I don’t think you should live in our country and like other things. Get your priorities right.”

However, the Indian captain later tried to clarify the issue, but the shots had been fired. Kohli, on Friday, tweeted, “I guess trolling isn’t for me guys, I’ll stick to getting trolled! I spoke about how “these Indians” was mentioned in the comment, `and that’s all. I’m all for freedom of choice. Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2018 08:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).