Emotions take over with Kohli

CRICKET STRUGGLING Indian skipper Virat Kohli has let his own emotions get the better of him while he appears to have also lost faith in his ability to play the cover drive.

Mitchell Johnson, the former Australian quick who had several explosive run-ins with Kohli during his career – and happily admits “he’s definitely not my best mate’’ – said the local hero was under pressure heading into the series decider in Dharamsala.

Kohli has scored 46 runs at an embarrassing 9.2 and taken more interest in poking fun of Australian rival Steve Smith and the visitors.

“It’s one of those things we used to say as opposition players, you’d love to have him in your side because he has that passion and drive and he’s a gun player, everyone knows that,’’ Johnson said.

“But I reckon he has taken it a little bit too far and he’s lost a bit of his focus.

“I know I went through being over-aggressive sometimes and got caught up with that emotion and wasn’t thinking about what I was doing out there.

“He might have fallen into that trap and I hope he does again in the last Test as well.

“There’s been a fair bit of carry-on from both sides, not just Virat. But you can get Virat fired up, we’ve seen that, and it looks like he’s let his emotions take over.”