Commentator and former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was not pleased with captain Virat Kohli’s behaviour on the field in the ongoing Test between India and Australia in Perth.
The latest incident in what is becoming a very chatty encounter was a duel between Kohli and Australia captain Tim Paine, carrying on from where they started last night. The two captains were told to calm down by umpire Chris Gaffaney after Kohli almost came in the way of Paine while completing a run.
Manjrekar, speaking during the lunch-time talk show on Sony Six, said “...that last gesture, Virat Kohli coming in the way of Tim Paine, that was completely uncalled for.”
“Actually, what if Kohli was not a such a great player getting all the runs that he does — some of his antics and behaviour on the field would have created quite a bit of stir and got lot more criticism. It’s just that he is such a champion batsman, people are sort of accepting that.”
Manjrekar also observed that Indians have been the aggressors in this series so far.
“In this Test match, in this series so far, the guy who has been most aggravated on the field on both sides has been the Indian captain. He can get runs despite having this kind of approach to cricket,” he said.
The former Mumbai batsman noted that Kohli gets away with a lot because of the ‘brand’ that he is as a cricketer, referring to his dismissal and subsequent animated celebrations when India were bowling.
“For example, I mentioned Virat Kohli, the brand and that’s why he gets away with a lot of things. Lot of people haven’t talked about his reaction after he was given out [on Sunday]. Any other player – low profile name – I am sure would have got some kind of a warning from the referee.
“We have heard nothing from the officials about his behaviour when he walked off. If you see that again, and at some point we have to show it, because there’s clear show of dissent in public that he was given out. He was mouthing something and it was really out there for everyone to see. And I think again, the Virat Kohli brand has helped Virat Kohli not get the rap on the knuckle that he deserves,” he added.
Manjrekar also felt the celebration after getting a century was over the top.
“I think, runs can be got in different ways. Rahul Dravid has shown it. Sachin Tendulkar has shown it. I love the way he bats but lot of the things he does, apart from his batting, something I am not a big fan of. The celebration after he got a hundred, with the bat and the bat does the talking, that was totally unnecessary. Who is questioning Virat Kohli’s batsmanship that he has to show that the bat is doing all the talking,” Manjrekar said.
Sitting beside him, former Australia captain Michael Clarke did not think Kohli was crossing lines.
“I think it is fine so far. I think I know what comes with Virat Kohli. I have played against him. And I think his attitude you see just there is exactly what you see when he bats. So you can’t have the cake and eat it too,” Clarke said.
“You can’t say we want him to make hundreds, we want him to be an aggressive player, we want him to stand up to opposition players. It’s the same conversation I had about David Warner. It’s the same conversation I had about Sourav Ganguly, unbelievable captain because he stood up to everybody.”
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