India vs Australia: Virat Kohli was involved in a heated exchange with Sam Konstas© AFP
Virat Kohli‘s performance Down Under in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy left more questions than answers. He scored just 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75. He began with a ton but his performance with the bat went downhill from there on. His tendency to poke at delivery moving outside the off-stump led to his downfall again and again. Australia exploited that weakness and got the better of him. All this left a big question mark on his Test future. He was also involved in on-field skirmishes with the rival camp.
He was involved in a shoulder-barging incidents with Sam Konstas and also tried to rile up Australian crowd in Sydney. Sunil Gavaskar felt that such acts only added more pressure on other Indian stars.
“Kohli must understand that whatever he does to react to the crowd actually puts more pressure on his teammates, who also then become targets of the spectators,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
“What Kohli did with the shoulder bump is simply not cricket. Indians are not shy to retaliate if provoked, but here the provocation was simply not there. The one thing that players learn with experience is that it’s futile to try and get back at the crowds, who have come to have a good time, so booing players is never personal but just a way to entertain themselves. To react to that doesn’t do the player any good and, in fact, does more harm.”
Kohli scored only one ton in the Australia series and Gavaskar raised question marks on his performance. “With his continued failures to avoid nibbling at the deliveries around the off-stump, he failed to make the contribution that could have boosted the total. The skipper, Rohit Sharma, was out of his depth, and having taken the brave decision to step aside because of his form, he has also raised big questions about his future in Test cricket.”
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