Smith vs Kohli: Clashing captains and contrasting styles

Of all series Kohli has failed, this and the England tour are his only flops. The man still averages 50 , 9 of his 16 hundreds are away from home, more than half. 5 hundreds in Oz, 1 each in NZ and SA (could have been 2 in SA, out for 97) and 1 each in Sri Lanka and WI. The guy is a pretty good player. Give him one more tour of England and he will rectify his scores. And if you take 50 over and t20 cricket no one in the modern game averages more than 50 in all formats not even Smith. Smith is good, the best test batsman at the moment. But Kohli is pretty good as well, and if you take his t20 and 50 overs cricket, he is probably the best over all bastman.

Smith with the bat was awesome but to say he was without ego is insane, he wears his emotions on his sleeve and was absolutely effected by Kohli. Im still not sold on Smith as captain, when he is incredible form you can say he leads by example with the bat but if he ever does not deliver with the bat, which happens to everyone, i dont see how he contributes to the team as a leader. Kohli was shocking with the bat but he was still the leader of India and you could see that in the solidarity that India showed, i dont see the same passion for their captain from Australia.

The umpire was onto it really quickly though. Like he was staring at the back of Smith and the second he looked to the boxs the umpire reacted. Either the umpire was perfectly on the ball or he was looking for it.

what disgraceful article keaton, shows your one sided bias even though I am a proud Australian supporter but I try to see things from all perspectives and remain unbiased and i absolutely don't agree to all the negativity and hatred towards Kohli. I was one of the first guy who thought that act by smith was borderline cheating and Australian results After the review-gate using drs were shambolic, which only showed that there was something very suspicious in smith's actions. He got away with that , but you don't mention it anywhere. instead you chose to write this defending smith "His public apology and admission to a genuine brain fade are a prime example of his humble nature" also no mention of smith calling vijay a "f***ing cheat" for a normal occurrence in the cricket field. Any cricket follower knows that even if a catch is clean slow-mo replays of 2-dimensional images always states otherwise. This also proves how one dimensional your views are, What if i commit a serious crime and then just apologize for that terming it as a brain fade, would anyone be okay with that? no ,I should be punished smith apologizing twice for his disgraceful actions was not indicative of his humble nature, rather it was an attempt of damage control, an old strategy we all are well aware of. As for the kohli behavior, yes it was childish, over the top and unnecessary and yes it was unpleasant to see someone sledging us, because we can only give it but can't take it, but if we are complaining about that it is a perfect case of pot calling the kettle black. these are some of the comments from kohli which no one in our media wants to write about in their articles, as it would hinder their attempts of targeted attacks on a particular individual 1.“Australia played better than us” and “we have to take it on the chin and move on” formed the gist of what he said at the end of a shock 333-run defeat. 2.“I would say the relentlessness in their desire to make things happen in these conditions was probably the reason why they kept giving us a great fight until the end of this Test match,” he said in the post-match press conference. 3.“A lot of credit goes to them. “They had the belief of making things happen in these conditions. It’s something that I sensed in their body language, in the way they played their cricket. 4.“They believe that they can win sessions and win situations and they are willing to enjoy the challenge. That was the most important thing and the most challenging thing for us.” What is this spirit of cricket we speak of? And who draws this line you can’t cross? The Australian team? And why should what happens on the field stay on the field? Even if the stump microphones were switched on, most of the people wouldn’t have been embarrassed, only if the sledges were nasty, personal or malicious. It’s only those who say such things that have to worry. so why do we keep insisting, things should stay on the field, we don't make sledging laws keaton indians would expect the same standards on and off the field from friends. A lot has been made of Kohli’s statement about not being friends with Australians, but he isn’t the first one to get offended by our on-field personal abuse. AB De Villiers, in the aftermath of the 2014 Test series against Australia, had said, “I see that it’s part of the game, but they can’t expect us to be mates with them off the field then, if they get very personal”. On the same tour, most South Africans refused to venture into the Australian dressing room for a customary beer. David Warner, who had accused AB De Villiers of ball tampering on that tour later retracted his allegation but still defended their behaviour by saying, “We do like to be aggressive and sledging is a form of the game when we’re out there.” so yaa when smith and wade are sledging jadeja ,telling him how useless and waste he is and countless abusive things, how can you guys expect them to share a beer with us after the match, everyone has rights to chose their friends. in the end i would like to make this absolutely clear that If you are going to write something of substance then write both sides of story, narrate the truth, leave fan-boy-ism, its not about anti-australian or pro-australian, its about being correct, being truthful as a professional writer. If cricketers want to restore some harmony to this game, then they must learn to acknowledge the lines of their opponents. The respectable and tolerant way is to appreciate the cultural difference and be more careful about not crossing someone else’s line.

Hi Keaton, it seems you are well aware of Virat Kohli the person, could you just highlight 5 non-cricketing personal attributes (of-course with evidence) picked up by you before making such a statement - "Steve Smith is clearly the better cricket and person".

Spot on James. Smith has a far different approach to his captaincy than his predecessors. He plays it hard and aggressive but there isn't as much of the in your face sledging. He lets his actions do the talking and I suspect the rest of the players have adopted a similar attitude. And if Smith crosses the line such as the DRS consultation incident and being caught on camera mouthing of at one of the Indian fieldsman as a cheat (which he was) he has fessed up and apologised. In contrast Kohli's sledging is constant and unnecessary and quite frankly immature and childish. His comment that he was no longer friends with some of the Aussies after the series was schoolboy stuff. I hated the sledging by the Aussies years ago just as I hate the way Kohli initiates it today. And comments such as the Aussies not being able to handle sledging when they gave it out years ago doesn't justify Kohli's actions in my opinion. And to say that Australia was thrashed is just ridiculous. The Aussies fought tooth and nail with the Indians in one of the most memorable series in years. They only really fell away on the last day when the Indian bowlers got on top. Its just a shame that some of the on and off field incidents featuring Smith and Kohli has overshadowed such a great contest.

You are right, I stand corrected http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-australia-2016-17/engine/series/936113.html Still doesnt mitigate the fact that Australia's captain abandoned ship midway through a live rubber.

"Smith played the ODI in Sri Lanka on August 24, 2016. His next game was the ODI against SA on October 1, 2016." You're in a hole digging deeper Homer Pseudonym. You said Smith had 6 months off after Sri Lanka which was patently false. Now you're back tracking and saying Smith's next ODI after leaving Sri Lanka was actually against SA on October 1. 1. There was no Australian ODI on October 1 2. Smith's first game after Sri Lanka was against Ireland in South Africa on September 27. 3. Between landing back in Australia from SL and then leaving for SA, Smith had 3 weeks not 6 months as you said.

It is really funny and amusing to listen Aussies whining about Indians for Sledging. I didn't think I would be alive to listen to this in my lifetime. This article is bit of Bollywood (over the top type). Depicting Smith as superhero and Kohli as some goon. Both were equally bad. Smith was caught cheating and Kohli complained simple. And rest about sledging it was time some one gave the Aussies their own medicine. I loved it when Aussies where made uneasy due to kohli sledging. They will now understand what it was when Ponting and Co dished out to all other teams.

Not quite 6 months, but not three weeks either. And doesnt take away the fact that Smith walked away from a live rubber.

That was an excellent cricket series. Kohli failed miserably and made a pathetic fool of himself vocally. That would not be lost on the rest of the Indian team. He showed that under pressure he has zero class. The Indian flop again (Kohli was also a hopeless failure against England in England). Its good that he can make up sayings to suit his ego. Smith was amazing yet again and while his captaining will improve I have not seen a player in modern times keep scoring.

Smith played the ODI in Sri Lanka on August 24, 2016. His next game was the ODI against SA on October 1, 2016. Not 6 months, but not 3 weeks either. And still does not take away the fact that he walked away from a live rubber.

Smith Home - 15 Away - 9 Kohli Home - 16 Away - 10

I tend to agree with you. I reflecting on a few events of the series the other day and felt that a lot of the angst was due to a lack of transparency from the ICC. As a result issues that should be dealt with swiftly get caught up in conspiracy theories or speculation by the media and fans alike. Something needs to change, unfortunately I doubt anything will.

@nanda. How about steve smith calling Murali Vijay fucking cheat....and he comes out and apologies, so no fine for him and btw steve smith called it brain fade...why should we take his word, peter handscomb says he suggested steve smith to have a look, how abt fining him.

I see no space for the high praise of Australia and how they played their cricket in India by Kohli in this same press conference. You are only showing one side of the coin

I am hoping your new author will take up the issue of the Sheffield Shield cricket final that was reported 2 years ago in the Roar by Dan Lonergan. "Since the final started 32 years ago, there have only been five occasions where the visiting state has won. I think they should resort to the original format: whoever is on top after the 10 rounds of home-and-away fixtures wins the title." In most States now, due to the AFL, the final cannot take place at the home ground anyway, so lets get rid of the final.

The irony is, both are probably not the best options as captain. India looked better without Kohli and some of Smiths bowling and fielding options were awful. Opening with SOK on the last day of the test was a prime example, refusal to bowl Maxwell and bowling our bowlers into the ground in the 3rd test another. Both are the best bats and seem to have been appointed as such. The days of making your best bat the captain should be over.

go away haha waste of oxygen

I personally think that CA and BBCI shoved the entire thing under the carpet , just like Monkeygate. There is a lot of footage which are not telecast but where some details are available. Since the charge laid by Kohli was serious, any professional would be seriously offended to be called a cheat, it would have been prudent to get the ICC Match referee to watch the entire footage and take a call. If Kohli was right then Smith should have coped it. But if there was no evidence then Kohli should have been pulled up and made to apologies and copped a ban or a fine. However the way it was handled was poor or may be it was the administrators way of putting the lid on the whole thing. And yes, Broad as the referee should have probed this even without the two Boards getting involved. So us fans continue to argue on who did the right thing.