Fugitive liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya reportedly wanted to meet Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his team recently who are in England for a five-match Test series.
Fugitive liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya reportedly wanted to meet Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his team recently who are in England for a five-match Test series.
Vijay Mallya, who is also known as the King of Good Times, has had a close association with Kohli because of Indian Premier League (IPL). Mallya used to own Royal Challengers Bangalore which is captained by Kohli.
According to media reports, Mallya had requested to meet Kohli and rest of Indian cricket team in England this month. His request, however, was rejected by the team management in order to avoid any controversy.
The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who has been on bail on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, is in London fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores.
Interestingly, the official Instagram account of Indian cricket team had posted a photo of Kohli last week with a person who looked like Mallya. In the photo, a group of fans posed alongside Kohli who was seen resting his hands on Mallya lookalike.
Last year, Mallya had also come to attend a charity event organised by the Indian skipper's foundation in England. His presence at the event had forced the Indian team to leave early in order to avoid any controversy.
Earlier, he was also seen enjoying India's match against Pakistan at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.