Former ICC elite panel umpire Ian Gould on Saturday (May 30) appreciated Virat Kohli’s timely change in behavioural approach and also called the Indian captain a “funny man”.

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"He's a funny man. Yeah, he batted like me a couple of times. I had to tell him off for slogging it. He's a charmer. He's one of those guys who's got, a bit like Sachin Tendulkar, the whole of India on his back, but you wouldn't know," Gould was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"You could walk into a restaurant and sit and chat with him for hours. He's a very worldly boy. When you look at Virat, you're thinking male model, pin-up boy, but he knows about the game inside out, the past, history. Lovely guy," he added.

In the past, Virat was seen confronting umpires when some decisions didn’t go his way but the Delhi lad has mellowed considerably over the years.

Commenting on Kohli's past run-ins with the authority, Gould said: "I can see why. But he's learned to be respectful."

"He could have continued his career like that and people could be talking totally the opposite about Virat. He's a nice man and the India boys are very, very good people, very respectful."

More than 9 years after he adjudged Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar out LBW in the World Cup semi-final against Pakistan at Mohali, Gould opened up about his decision, saying he would stick to it even today.

In that high-voltage encounter, Tendulkar failed to read Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal’s doosra and was trapped in front of the wickets. But he opted for DRS and it proved to be a masterstroke as the hawkeye showed that the ball was missing the stumps.

"Don't go down that road. I get teased about that. People send me pictures of my reaction after I was told in my ear by Billy Bowden that it was missing leg stump. It makes me laugh. It didn't make me laugh at the time, I can assure you. But I'd give it out again with my back to the wall. It was dead. I don't know what happened," Gould said.

Ian Gould also shared his experiences of officiating in matches involving India.

"It's intimidating. Not the players. The players are outstanding people. I've done seven, eight India-Pakistan games and the guys are real good people. They get on with each other.

"If you allow a crowd to get to you, all that noise and Mexican waves, or whatever, can distract you. Then you start missing bits and pieces and it's a difficult place to be.

"But, you know, a couple of lads, last year or two years ago, did Bangladesh-Sri Lanka and there wasn't one seamer picked in both sides. That would have been pretty difficult."