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Australian captain Tim Paine may be promising his side will play polite cricket but there will be no shortage of animosity and controversy this summer thanks to the presence of combative Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Kohli again earned headlines for his fiery behaviour yesterday, this time in England, in a sign of what is to come this November when India visit Australia for what is likely to be a spicy Test series.
The Indian superstar attracted widespread criticism for what many English pundits and fans believed to be a send-off of England captain Joe Root on day one of the first Test at Edgbaston.
Kohli appeared to mock Root’s famous ‘mic drop’ celebration, which the Englishman performed after winning the recent ODI series, and then apparently said “mic drop, f— off”.
Since Kohli became Test skipper his on-field behaviour has often been wildly aggressive. So much so that barely an Indian Test series has gone by without his antics coming under the microscope, similar to banned Australian bad boy David Warner.
In last year’s Test series against Australia Kohli was repeatedly warned by the umpires for giving send-offs, and then received a similar rebuke from officials in the first Test between India and South Africa earlier this year.
Virat Kohli is key to India’s success. (AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)
Later in that series in SA he was fined by the ICC for showing dissent towards the umpires.
Never have I seen a Test captain behave with the constant manic aggression displayed by Kohli during Australia’s Tests in India last year, when Kohli continually gave huge send-offs.
Among current players I have only ever witnessed Warner and England’s Ben Stokes act in such a ceaselessly belligerent manner across a whole series. Plenty of cricketers have outbursts where they deliver a hefty send-off, but these are occasional incidents for them rather than the norm.
Most of the time these players delivering send-offs are bowlers who have just won a battle with the batsman and are surging with adrenaline.
Send-offs in this case remain unacceptable but are at least understandable given the swell of emotions a bowler experiences when they get a wicket.
It is bizarre, though, when a fieldsman like Warner or Kohli decides to charge in and verbally spray a dismissed batsman. Kohli did just that over and again versus Australia last year, and not just aimed at renowned loudmouths like Warner and Matthew Wade, but even at quiet, reserved cricketers such as Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh.
Kohli’s send-off of Root was tame in comparison to many of those he dished out against Australia. His fury was so intense during those Tests against Australia that I think it actually derailed his cricket, causing him to have an ultra-rare poor series.
Kohli’s return of 46 runs at an average of 9 against Australia was completely unexpected from the world’s best all-format batsman.
Last year’s series in India was the most heated Australia have been involved in since the notorious Tests they hosted against India in 2007-08 when the tourists almost went home halfway through the tour amid acute controversy.
Virat Kohli (AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE)
Back then Australia had their own aggressive leader in Ricky Ponting, whereas this summer when India arrive they’ll be greeted by a calm and affable skipper in Paine.
Don’t expect Kohli to follow Paine’s lead, though. The jovial nature of England captain Joe Root hasn’t rubbed off on Kohli and neither will Paine’s congeniality.
Kohli, I sense, believes his vigorous leadership brings the best out of an Indian Test team that is otherwise filled with quiet, laidback characters.
He quite clearly dislikes Australia more than any other team, due no doubt to the heavy sledging he copped early in his career from the likes of David Warner and Mitchell Johnson.
Now that Kohli is the captain of the world’s number one team and a colossus of international cricket he probably sees it as payback time.
He will make sure this summer’s Test series is spiked with contention regardless of whether Australia try to adopt a new Nice Guys approach.