Langer not amused by Kohli celebration
Adelaide, Dec. 8: Australian coach Justin Langer says if his players were to celebrate wickets like Indian captain Virat Kohli does, they would now be seen as “the worst blokes in the world”.
Langer also took umbrage at Sachin Tendulkar’s “defensive mindset” tweet following Australia’s slow batting on the second day of the opening Test against India. Kohli was his usual animated self on Friday, celebrating Australian wickets with gusto. Langer said he “loved seeing that passion” but felt Australia players would be judged differently if they did the same.
“He’s ( Kohli) a superstar of the game and he’s the captain. We’ve talked for as long as I can remember in Australian cricket teams that you want to keep the opposition captain down as much as possible. You love seeing that passion in sport,” Langer told Fox Cricket.
“Mind you I think if we did that at the moment we’d be the worst blokes in the world. It’s a fine line isn’t it? “That’s the truth of it, but I love seeing the passion, that is great passion. But as I said there’s a fine line.”
The head coach did concede the team was playing to a different standard of scrutiny, a fallout of the ball- tampering fiasco in South Africa in March.
Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle, “TeamIndia should make the most of this situation and not lose their grip. The defensive mindset by the Australian batsmen at home is something I’ve not seen before in my experience.”
His comment did not go well with Langer, who defended his inexperienced batting lineup’s approach. “The teams that Sachin would have played against started with Border and Boon, and Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh, and Ricky Ponting,” Langer said.