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Clarifying his stance on the controversial "foul-mouthed" comment with reference to Indian captain Virat Kohli, former England opener Nick Compton agrees that English players also sledge. He, however, claimed that someone like James Anderson will do it in a ‘different’ manner.
Compton sparked off a massive controversy on social media with a tweet on Wednesday in which he called Kohli the "most foul-mouthed individual".
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Compton shared more thoughts about the Indian captain. Conceding that players from other countries also engage in verbal duels, the 38-year-old stuck to his stand on Kohli and explained:
“I do agree (others do it as well). (James) Anderson’s got his ways. It’s not just Kohli, I am not saying that. But his language is quite excessive. Anderson will do things in a different way. Kohli’s way is to get very abusive. He has got a good array of swear words that he uses. We don’t want to throw stones on this player and that player, otherwise we get into a big argument.”
Compton, who played 16 Tests for England between 2012 and 2016, argued that it is possible to be aggressive without getting abusive. He elaborated:
“Indian players must give it back (to England). I am not saying they shouldn’t be aggressive. I think (Ravindra) Jadeja has got that in him. I think that you do get a good mixture within the team. There are different ways to being aggressive. Kohli can probably do it in a more intelligent way, without having these abusive fights. Sometimes the best way is to say nothing and go out there and get a hundred.”
Kohli must realise that he is an inspiration to young players: Nick Compton
Compton further added that he was against verbals going out of the game. According to him, without the banter, cricket would be devoid of varied emotions. At the same time, he opined that someone like Kohli needs to understand that he is seen as a role model by the upcoming generation. Compton reckoned:
“I think we should let it go on. We need some theatre and entertainment. We need characters in the game, Kohli is a character. He brings a lot to cricket. I am a real admirer of him as a player. His leadership is sometimes overemotional. But I think he has brought a lot to cricket. It is important that characters are brought in. You don’t want the match referee stepping in every time everyone says something. Otherwise, the game just becomes over-governed. It becomes like naughty school children in the playground. These are adults, these are international professional cricketers.”
The former England player concluded:
“A bit of banter, there’s definitely place to use that. It just needs to be done in the right way. Kohli’s got to realise that he is an inspiration to other young players. Using foul-mouthed language, I don’t think it is necessary.”
In an intensely contested tussle, Team India got the better of England by 151 runs in the second Test at Lord’s.
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