With India trailing 0-2 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15 in Australia, Indian team’s over aggression could prove to be costly. Virat Kohli has spoken about his lack of respect for Mitchell Johnson, which can backfire.
There is no question that Virat Kohli has had a great series so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15 in Australia.
Though Team India is trailing 0-2 in the series, players’ confidence is at an all-time high and they are “giving it back” to the Aussies. Literally.
Everyone remembers the incident between Mitchell Johnson and Virat Kohli that transpired on the third day of the Third Test match at Melbourne.
With Johnson bowling, Virat hit one delivery back to the bowler, who in turn took a shot at the wickets. Instead, Virat being in front of the stumps, the batsman got hit on one of his calves sending him off his feet.
The Australian bowler immediately apologised, but Virat did not stop there. He gave Mitchell Johnson a peace of his mind by saying, “Next time, hit the stumps and not my body.”
After stumps on the third day, Virat was asked about the incident by the media at the press conference and the Indian vice-captain, being an outspoken person, claimed to not having any respect for the Australian pace bowler.
Ryan Harris, another Australian pace bowler, who was brought into the Australian Test side for his success at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was quick to respond to Kohli’s comments. Harris called the entire incident a ‘banter’ and also said that everyone in the Australian team has respect for the Indian batsman and there was no reason for him to think otherwise.
During the tea time on fourth day, Matthew Hayden, while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar, addressed the issue and focused on calmness which seemed to be missing for the rest of the day after the incident.
To think about it, the entire issue could backfire on Virat Kohli and the Indian team, on the whole. Even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar thinks the same when he spoke with Sanjay Manjrekar during the post day session.
Kohli is a young player and at 26 years of age being forthright and talking about not having respect for an international opponent does seem immature.
Australians, surprisingly, have been quiet during this series with words. For a change, it is the Indian team that has been initiating exchange of words and that does not seem to be working for them in any way.
During the Second Test at Brisbane, it was Rohit Sharma, who took shots at Mitchell Johnson during Australia’s batting. The Australian bowler went on to score 88 runs in the innings, which proved a critical factor in India’s defeat in the match.
To sum it up, even if Australia is having words with the Indian batsmen, they are not new at it. The Aussies say words and move on. It is the Indian team that unfortunately is not letting it slide and instead raking up unnecessary controversies that are bound to affect them adversely.
