What’s the story?
Virat Kohli may not have scored too many runs with the bat in the ongoing Test series against Australia but that hasn’t stopped him from dominating the headlines. The latest to feature Virat Kohli comes from “The Daily Telegraph” which compares the Indian captain to USA president Donald Trump.
An article from the Australian daily reads: “VIRAT Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport. The Indian captain is a law unto himself with no one – not even the ICC or his own board – holding him accountable for his continual perpetuation of fake news. Just like President Trump, Kohli decided to blame the media as a means of trying to hide the egg smeared right across his face.
“Like former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Kohli relies on a flagrant disrespect of his opponents and the game to fuel himself and his team. Soft cricketing administrators have given rise to a bat-wielding Trump.”
Extra Cover: India vs Australia 2017: Steven Smith responds to Virat Kohli's allegations of disrespect
The Details
The article goes on to state that while the host broadcaster Star Sports explained the optical illusion that led to claims that Smith mocked Virat Kohli’s shoulder injury and later even apologised for it, Kohli didn’t budge and went on to give a flagrant send-off to Warner after he was castled by Ravindra Jadeja on day four.
In his post-match press conference, Kohli also mentioned that a few Australian players took physio Patrick Farhat’s name and the Indian captain had no clue why. The article goes on to state that his statements lack any concrete evidence and that Australia’s captain and vice-captain both had no idea what Kohli was on about.
While the article does state that having a bad series isn’t a crime, it goes on to state that Kohli has proven that the spirit of cricket if “officially dead”. It also goes on to say that Kohli is untouchable, refuses to apologize or even tow the line set by BCCI.
The Context
Kohli hasn’t had a great series with the bat, scoring just 46 runs in three Tests but has dominated the headlines. First with the Steve Smith DRS controversy then with his shoulder injury on day one of the second Test and his send-off to David Warner on day four of the third Test, which looked like a response to Glenn Maxwell, who mocked him for his shoulder injury.
Parallels from history
In the last week, Virat Kohli isn’t the first Indian cricketer to be targeted by the Australian media. Speaking to Star Sports, VVS Laxman said Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were setting a bad example. Several Australian media outlets termed his comments as an ‘ill-informed attack on Smith’s leadership’ and slammed him for bringing the Hughes family name into a non-issue and several others termed his comments as ‘depressingly ill-advised’.
Author’s Take
This is not the first time that Australian media have decided to take on Virat Kohli. While the Indian captain has always been aggressive, the series has seen him give back as much as he has taken from the Aussies and that seems to be something the visitors cannot seem to stomach.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
