Kohli hits out over criticism of Anushka

Kolkata, April 10 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Friday lashed out at people for criticising girlfriend and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma for the Indian team's exit from the recently concluded cricket World Cup.

At the end of the media conference on the eve of RCB's match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens here, Kohli said he wanted to make the people know how hurt he was by the treatment meted out to the actress.

"I just want to speak about something and I want everyone to take note of it," Kohli said as mediapersons were about to get up from their seats after the conclusion of the media conference.

"The stuff that happened after the World Cup semi-final, the way people reacted towards my personal life and Anushka in particular, was really disrespectful," added the Indian Test captain. 

"I want to put this out in public because at the human level I was really hurt and wanted to express that for quite a long time."

Taking to social networking sites, people had widely slammed Anushka after Kohli scored just one run. Following this, India were thrashed by Australia by 95 runs in the second semi-final of the cricket World Cup.

"It is very important for the people to know that we are human at the end of the day. We don't aim to become successful, that is not our only aim," the 26-year-old said.

"We are doing what we are doing. For people to react that way and to see whatever they did, blaming her for our loss, blaming her for my failure was absolutely hurtful for me. It is shameful that people can react like that to one loss," added the right-handed batsman.

"I wanted to express that and get it out there because it is important for the people to know how we feel about these things and people should be respected more than they are in these sorts of time in our country."

Earlier in the day also Kohli had slammed people over the issue. 

"In last five years, the number of matches I've helped India win and the consistency I've played is more than anyone else in the team," the Indian One-Day International (ODI) side vice-captain had said at a promotional event.

"I don't think there's anybody else in the team who has done better than me," Kohli said.