Symonds’ treatment a regret for Border
VIRAT Kohli has become a more respectful and calmer captain, according to one of many Australians too have incurred the Indian icon’s wrath.
Kohli, 30, ( pictured) has adopted a pugnacious approach throughout previous clashes with Australia, often peppering the opposition with verbals while rowing over a range of issues.
But he has offered an olive branch as he plots India’s bid for a maiden Test series win in Australia, insisting he has matured and won’t seek to start any on- field spats.
Kohli’s declaration came 1 ½ years after a fiery series in India that prompted him to declare he was no longer friends with any of the Australian players and never would be.
Kohli later claimed those comments were blown out of proportion but there was no hiding the obvious bad blood.
Ian Healy wasn’t in India but he did cop a broadside from Kohli during that series, having critiqued the skipper’s on- field behaviour.
A fired- up Kohli hit back by referencing an incident from nearly two decades ago, when Healy was banned for showing dissent during a Test.
“He’s learned to play with more respect these days. I love the way he plays,” former Australia keeper Healy said.
“Since then, I’ve felt he has played more respectfully to the ethics of the game and I think he’s been a lot calmer. Which he should be, for a great player.
“He did also forget that just before saying that, I did say he is the best batsman I have ever seen. So selective memory but that’s OK. I’ve been happy with his improvement.
“Now our Australian team is going to show similar improvements.”
The Fox Cricket pundit doubted whether the upcoming four- Test series would be spiteful.
“It’ll be very competitive but you don’t have to get personal and you don’t have to mouth off,” Healy said.
Healy, having been suitably impressed with Kohli’s four tons during India’s previous Test series in Australia, is in no doubt the superstar will once again be the tourists’ talisman.
“He’s always the one to watch. He’s coming off an English tour where his side wasn’t successful, so he’ll be really keen to do well here,” he said.
“You don’t predict that even the best bowlers in the world will trouble a batsman like that.
“But we’ve got some firepower. They’ll be capable of giving him a really hard session or two. It’s up to him whether he can get through it.” ALLAN Border has revealed his lingering disappointment that Cricket Australia failed to adequately support Andrew Symonds during the “Monkeygate” furore on India’s 2007- 08 tour of Australia.
Border, who was a member of the board at the time, says fears of a massive financial loss for Cricket Australia dictated its actions in backing down to India when it threatened to pull out of the tour after offspinner Harbhajan Singh was handed a three- match ban by the ICC for racial abuse to Symonds. The Indians threatened to boycott the tour, and appealed against the decision.
Harbhajan was ultimately found guilty of a lesser charge of using abusive language in the appeal heard by New Zealand High Court judge John Hansen. He was fined 50 per cent of his match fee.
But in the second part of a documentary on Australian and India’s sometimes strained relationship, 2 Nations 1 Obsession, to screen on Fox Cricket tonight, Border and a host of Symonds’s teammates claimed the Australian all- rounder got little support from the board.
“I was on the cricket board as a director and I was very disappointed with the stance we took,” Border told filmmaker Peter Dickson. “We backtracked quite substantially.
“But there was a strong reason for it – the threat of ( India) going home became a serious financial hole.”
Symonds maintains Harbhajan said to him “You’re nothing but a monkey”, but remains just as frustrated that “Cricket Australia was intimidated by the Indian Cricket Board.”
Teammate Adam Gilchrist expressed his frustration at the lack of support Symonds received.
“Myself as vice- captain, and Ricky ( Ponting) as captain, were trying to completely back our player and Andrew Symonds wasn’t going to back down,” Gilchrist said. “Andrew Symonds would feel certain that his board didn’t back him.”