Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli

Not many cricketers would want to be in Virat Kohli's shoes at present. If scoring a meagre 134 runs in 10 innings against England wasn't bad enough, he has had to face the wrath of Indian fans who have mocked him for deciding to have girlfriend Anushka Sharma accompany him for the first couple of Test matches.

And the man behind the whole mess is none other than Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel. The BCCI - which had earlier allowed only the wives of cricketers to travel with them - decided to make an exception in the India vice-captain's case, and the fact that Kohli hasn't been able to deliver on the field has made matters worse.

Speaking to Mail Today, a senior BCCI official confirmed that it was the secretary who called the management in England during a tour game and requested them to grant permission to Kohli to have Anushka with him. "See, whether you call it hypocrisy or social norms, so far we have only had wives of Indian players travelling with them. But Kohli requested the Board to allow him to take Anushka along.

While the management was taken aback by the request of the player, Patel called up the management and asked them to give the go-ahead as the Board saw nothing wrong in Kohli's request," he said. The end result of the series combined with the poor form of Kohli has only allowed the matter to escalate and it has come to a situation where certain officials believe that the manager - Sunil Dev - should report the matter in his statement when he submits his report.

"Dev is known to be a no-nonsense guy and I feel that in the current scenario, he should make no exemptions just because Kohli is from Delhi. I would ideally want him to report the matter. But the final call obviously lies with him," an official said. Incidentally, there were reports even during India's tour to New Zealand earlier in the year that Anushka was seen roaming the streets with Kohli.