‘Disrespectful’ Kohli criticised at home and abroad after Paine spat
▶ India captain faces questions over his attitude and selection choices in Australia
India captain Virat Kohli faced stiff criticism both in Australia and back home after his side’s crushing defeat in the second Test.
Former Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson called Kohli “disrespectful” and “silly” over his heated exchanges with fellow captain Tim Paine during the Perth Test.
Former India great Sunil Gavaskar, meanwhile, hit out at “selection blunders” that had caused the side to lack consistency.
Kohli and Paine exchanged barbs, at one point prompting intervention from the umpire, during the game that Australia won by 146 runs on Tuesday to level the four-match series 1-1 after India had won by 31 runs in Adelaide.
It was reported that Kohli belittled Paine during the match in Perth as just “a stand-in captain” – a claim angrily denied by India’s team management.
The retired Johnson said the famously combative Kohli’s antics were unnecessary, and took away from his on-field performances, with his 25th Test hundred coming in the first innings in Perth as he struck 123.
“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports.
“Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful.
“Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly.”
After the game, both Paine and Kohli played down their on-field sledging, which was picked up by stump microphones.
Kohli described it as simply banter that was part and parcel of Test cricket. “As long as there is no swearing the line doesn’t get crossed. And no personal attacks,” he said.
He added that the remarks in Perth were nothing compared to their Australian tour in 2014, when he claimed to have been called a “spoilt brat”.
But Johnson said Kohli’s behaviour made a mockery of his pre-series claims that he was a changed man and did not plan to initiate any confrontations.
“What we saw this Test says otherwise,” he said. “From my experiences with him and what I am seeing as an observer now, not much has changed. It was disappointing and that is not the only area where he let himself down.”
Johnson and Kohli have history. In 2014 at Melbourne, Johnson threw the ball that hit Kohli in the back when attempting a run out, sparking a heated debate.
Australia coach Justin Langer, though, insisted he had no issue with the exchanges between Kohli and Paine. “I thought it was brilliant. As the two captains and they’re trying to stamp their authority on the game and I don’t think at any point there was any abuse or any real aggression to it,” he said.
“In fact, there was a bit of humour and there’s been a lot of talk about banter. There’s got to be some in a Test match. It’s a great part of the game, and there was actually a bit of humour, a bit of Aussie humour as well.
“That’s what we pride ourselves on – we’ve got a bad reputation in a lot of ways, but when there’s a bit of humour in it I thought it was a good exchange.
“They [Paine and Kohli] got close ... but it was all part of that theatre of Test cricket and I didn’t see anything malicious in that.”
Langer was also delighted with the leadership skills shown by his captain.
“Tim is the toughest pretty boy I’ve seen, but he is incredibly impressive as a captain and a person. He hasn’t got a bad bone in his body. What the world doesn’t see is his presence in the change room,” he said.
“He’s a real learner, he’s very thorough, he prepares as well as anyone ... the other thing about Tim we often forget is he’s literally the best keeper in the world. He’s an unbelievable cricketer.”
Gavaskar, meanwhile, was far less impressed by those in charge of the Indian side, saying that the roles of Kohli, coach Ravi Shastri and his support staff need to be assessed if India fail to perform in the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
He said that since India’s tour of South Africa at the start of the year, picking the wrong players “has lost matches which could’ve been won”.
If India fail to win the next two matches, “the selectors need to think whether we are getting any benefit from this lot – the captain, coach and support staff,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak TV news network.
While India have brought in Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya for the Boxing Day Test next Wednesday, Australia have named an unchanged squad.
Kohli gets away with more simply because he is Virat Kohli ... but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly MITCHELL JOHNSON Former Australia bowler