Hodge apologises to Kohli over shoulder injury jibe
Former Australia batsman Brad Hodge has apologised to Virat Kohli for comments suggesting the India captain missed the fourth Test in Dharamsala to rest his injured shoulder ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, starting next week.
Hodge was criticised in India for his comments and opted to address the situation on social media. “I take this opportunity to apologise to the people of India, cricket fans, the Indian national cricket team and particularly Virat Kohli for my previous comments,” Hodge said in a lengthy apology on Twitter.
“My intention was never to harm, criticise or be derogatory toward anyone. They were intended to be light-hearted comments with the utmost respect to the IPL which I have enjoyed through the years.
“The public and fans have every right to be upset, and the backlash I have received has certainly driven this home.”
Kohli was ruled out on the morning of the series-decider against Australia after failing to recover from the injury he sustained in the third Test in Ranchi, leaving Ajinkya Rahane to lead India to victory.
“You would think that your captain would get out there and get amongst the fight and get in there,” Hodge, who will coach the Gujarat franchise in the IPL, told Fox Sports while discussing Kohli’s absence.
“You’d hope as a sportsman that he’s seriously injured. Because if you miss one game of Test match cricket and you’re fronting up the next week for RCB... you’d be pretty dirty if he didn’t front up to a Test and try and win a valuable series.”