Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in world cricket today.
Sitting atop both the ICC rankings in both Tests and ODIs, Kohli is as good as they come.
I witnessed this first hand four years ago when Kohli made 169 in India’s last appearance at the Boxing Day Test, rarely looking worried by the Aussie attack consisting of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Josh Hazlewood.
His picturesque technique and rabid work ethic make him such a great batsman.
He is a passionate captain who demands respect from his opposition, holds his peers to the high standards that adheres to himself, and he carries on a bit.
I’m not slighting Virat’s ability or the job he does as captain in any way here – you a want proud, passionate individual leading your nation’s Test side.
However, he can be overly aggressive, demonstrative and a little bit sooky at times.
I’d rather that – not the sooking, but the aggression and emotion worn on his face – than players going into their shells on the biggest stage international cricket has to offer.
The dummy spit after catching Pat Cummins at slip and spiking the ball into the turf, or the over aggressive fashion in which he celebrated the wicket of Aaron Finch in the first innings were examples of what is being described as passionate.
If the Aussies did anything like that though…
“I think if we did that at the moment, we’d be the worst blokes in the world.”
Justin Langer summed it up brilliantly when discussing Kohli’s reaction to Finch’s dismissal.
The double standard sees Virat Kohli play with such passion and intensity, yet if the Australians showed that same passion… well, what JL said.
This double standard that has arisen from the ball-tampering fiasco in Cape Town has to disappear and never rear its ugly head again. It’s finished. It’s time to move on.
After two incidents (the Warner/De Kock scuffle and sandpaper gate) that centred around one person, David Warner and the others that had any involvement or responsibility regarding these incidents (Darren Lehmann, Steve Smith, Cam Bancroft et cetera) who have all been dealt with, we are completely changing our approach to the game. Let’s get back to playing cricket, the Australian way.
The way Allan Border instilled in his troops in the mid-80s when Australia was doing it rough.
He instilled grit, toughness and determination and set up a foundation for over a decade of success for the nation.
Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting all continued this trend of playing tough, intense, passionate cricket without being overly aggressive or ‘crossing the line.’
It wasn’t that Australia were disliked because they were average blokes, it was because they were good. Not everyone may have liked them, but they were respected.
But the Australians are still feeling the effects of Cape Town and are too worried about how they are perceived on the field with the ‘elite honesty’ and ‘elite mateship’ PR moniker. They should be worried about scoring runs, taking wickets and playing tough, respectful cricket.
Yet they are too busy trying to fix an image that should be applied to a few – Warner and company – and not the entire team.
Virat Kohli isn’t worried about how he’s perceived on the field. He has the backing of his board, coach, 1.35 billion fellow countrymen and the media who praise Virat for being Virat.
So why can’t we let the Australians be themselves and just focus on playing cricket?
Why can’t they let out a war-cry filled with emotion and delight when a wicket is taken, or the bowler pull out the old-fashioned Brett Lee chainsaw after rattling a batsman’s stumps.
Because they are afraid they’ll be criticised and labelled as ‘bad blokes.’ But Virat Kohli can yell and scream and celebrate aggressively cause he’s passionate. It’s the same with different labels.
So, either Virat Kohli is a really bad sport and a bit of a sook, or the Australians can show a bit of heart and passion just as the Indian skipper does.
It can’t be both.
Gus O
Roar Rookie
The author states “Virat Kohli isn’t worried about how he’s perceived on the field”. I disagree completely. Kohli is playing to his home audience and knows how to get his face on every highlights package even when he has no direct involvement in the play. He is a showpony who wants to take all the credit for the first ever series win in Australia. This is how he establishes his legacy and will increase his earning potential even more. He wants to be “the man”, the greatest ever in the history of Indian cricket and wants to be seen sticking it to the Aussies who are widely reported and perceived as cricket bullies and cheats (at least as far back as Ponting’s captaincy) and who have received favourable treatment from the cricket authorities forever at India’s expense. He knows a camera is on him in the field and he absolutely wants to be the centre of attention. Paine is all over it - the emerging theme is “how does it feel to be nothing but a support act for Kohli’s ego?” Let’s see how the Indian team holds together, particularly if Kohli does not back it up with runs in Melbourne. Kohli’s behaviour to date appears to assume a series win by India is a foregone conclusion. Let’s see if Kohli can hold it together if (big “if”) India “fail” to win the series.
Gus O
Roar Rookie
You say “Virat Kohli isn’t worried about how he’s perceived on the field”, i disagree. Kohli is playing to his home audience and he knows he has a camera on him and he knows how to get his face on the highlights package even when he had no direct involvement in the wicket. He is ensuring that he is the centre of attention in every article and highlights package in India, and clearly wants to be seen as the strong man who is sticking it to the Australian team, a team who have been painted as arrogant bullies by the media in India for decades. If you have read Indian cricket reporting or have followed comments or the most popular youtube vids this theme is clear, as is a widespread perception of Australian cheating and favourable treatment by officials that goes back to at least the Ponting era. Kohli wants all the credit for the first ever series win in Australia, he wants to be recognised as “the man”, surpassing all that have come before him in the pantheon of Indian cricket greats in terms of legacy and income. Lets see how well this works out for the Indian team who are attending only as the support act for his ego.
Mon
Guest
Oh hahah you mean that little warm and fuzzy fell good Christmas interview he did with Gilly? Oh yeah, butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. Rubbish. Look at the guy on the field if you want to see his actual attitude towards Australian cricketers. And he can’t rubbish their behaviour. That would be hypocritical. Bit of that going around eh??!
RAF
Guest
"the Andrew Symonds thing explained then PERHAPS his treatment was not great either" .........and PERHAPS it was completely legitimate too
Mon
Guest
Amen. +1000
Mon
Guest
Wow. You and anon must’ve fallen asleep, missed the point entirely and woken up a few stations later.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Anon reckons criticism of Kohli is racially motivated. I disagree. I wasn't talking about the problems of Pakistan the country. Pakistani cricketers on the other hand do not have a particular problem with Aussie cricketers despite have a similar colonial history to India.
Jacko
Guest
Pope the pakistan team has not played a test at home for years because some radicals shot up the Sri lankan team bus so please dont say pakistan are no issue and if you want the Andrew Symonds thing explained then perhaps his treatment of the Indians was not great either....Its not about the individual incident tho, its about the constant behavior of a team.....in other words the team culture...and the Aus team culture needed fixing....I am happy to see aggression in the future from the Aus team but it should never return to what it had become...which was verbal aggression and insults rather than good aggressive cricket...Tim paine is a man i see as a great positive for Aus cricket as he is happy to back up his boys and happy to fight with aggression and passion but he seems to know where the so called line is
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Well said, mate, but the hypocrisy of mainstream media in Australia knows no bounds. We hear it all the time about opposition players playing with intent, having good positive body language, taking the fight to the opposition. However when Aussies show emotion, they are crossing the line or have irrelevant moralists like Whateley actually weighing in and sledging ex players about sledging. The hypocrisy is ridiculous. All this crap about role models and what it looks like to people who've never invested passion in an endeavour has become typical of the puritanical 21st century. The irony is that these media hacks are moralising and advocating for cricketers to be as bland as the pitches they are forced to play. If Kohli can play like that, then let everyone and let the ICC sort it out. Finally, stop with the dedicated camera on Kohli. I don't need his reaction every ball to know what my enjoyment from the game will be. There are 13 players on the field, show all of them. I want to know how the bowler reacted to taking a wicket and how he's travelling, not what the bloke at 2nd slip thinks and I certainly don't care what a player sitting in the viewing room thinks of an on field action. Leave the obsession for Kohli to Star Tv and show Australians all 22 players.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
What it is anon, is Indians having a post colonial chip on their shoulder that has belatedly woven it's way into cricket, so they see it as a patriotic stand. Their own commentators, the great Harsha Bogle included, often cite the "sticking it up whitey" thing in the rise of the BCCI. Past Indian players have also been princes and toffs and had plenty of servants themselves. Neighbouring ex colonials, Pakistan, don't seem to be bothered. Also we Aussies are ex colonials too. And explain the Indians treatment of Andrew Symonds to me again?
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
Yet people are tell kohli to calm it down. Why? Banter is a part of the game for crying out load.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
So you contend that Australians are only racist towards Indians and not West Indians? Kohli is a clown regardless of his race ... oh yeh ... he can bat a bit as well.
Fight fair
Guest
It’s not about Kohli being aggressive , brash, arrogant and coming across as a complete pork chop. Good luck to him, he backs it up with the bat. It’s about the thrashing the Aussie players get in the media (and social media) when they behave in the exact same way. The media will give it to the aussies for being tossers ( which they can be) and then praise Kholis passion. That’s the frustration.
Adam Reynolds
Guest
The only thing that rankles me about Kohli is his repeated strongly worded verbal send offs of opposition batsman. There was a time when a bat would have been wrapped around his head for some of the things he has said. Great batsman no doubt but poor leadership qualities. Further, this “Australia are cheats” stuff that opposition fans from all over the world are gloating over and rubbing in the faces of the Aussies is purile. Ball tampering and other attempts to gain an advantage on the cricket field have been part and parcel of the game since its inception. On this occasion, the Australians were stupid enough to be caught on camera. Having said that, the three players involved should not be allowed to represent our country again. This might then set a benchmark for standards of integrity in the game of cricket, at least in this country.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Virat Kohli... The most Australian non-Australian playing cricket. Most Aussie fans would love him if he was wearing a baggy green. God forbid an Indian player be aggressive and not subservient. If Allan Border is immortalised for what he did for Australian Cricket, through his grit and determination then Kohli will be receiving similar accolades by the end of his career. Perhaps, having to play the "nice guy" is the price our cricketers are paying for sandpapering the ball and then lying about it to officials and in the press conference. Play hard but fair and limit the verbal encouragement to cricket-based stuff. All good.
anon
Roar Pro
It's up to the Australian players how they want to approach the game. I think most of the vitriol directed at Kohli has a racist element to it. I don't remember anyone complaining about Curtley Ambrose saying something mean or Viv Richards giving a nasty look. This Australian team are precious snowflakes and our coach is an oddball.
The Regulator
Roar Rookie
I'm sorry that you have had to use the race card in your thinking, but this article is intended to showcase the fact that the number 1 batsman in the world has an Australian like mentality and passion towards the game at the moment while the Australians are having to be on their best behavior due to a few idiots who decided to take it too far. It's praising Kohli for the way he plays and encouraging the Australians to play with the same passion and intent he does. If Kohli was a New Zealander or Englishman it would be written exactly the same way. It has zero to do with his nationality, religion or creed, only his mindset on the cricket field.
anon
Roar Pro
I think there's a bit of a racism about this. A lot of people don't like the idea of an Indian upstart not being intimidated by Aussies. They can't reconcile the idea of us being the servant and Kohli being the master.
Fight fair
Guest
The sand paper incident has nothing to do with kholi or the way he behaves on the field.
Jacko
Guest
You are making it up tho...What is it that kohli does that is bad? He showed frustration at a 49 run 9th wicket...name 1 captain who wouldnt. Saying something 20 times does not make it fact