When it’s India up against Australia we always expect some sort of banter in each moment of the game. It isn’t something which resulting started under Virat Kohli but it’s something that dates back to the 2008 Border Gavaskar trophy which was a highly controversial series as a majority of the decisions went against the Anil Kumble led side.
Though under MS Dhoni’s leadership the sledging had narrowed down as Dhoni himself didn’t fashion being a sledger himself but ever since Virat Kohli has taken over, sledging reignited in the Indian setup. As we all are aware of how much of a fan Virat Kohli is when its about sledging. The Indian captain doesn’t back down or waste any time in giving it back to the opposition if someone is trying to put him down verbally.
This time as well there will be some sort of banter as it is pretty much expected that Australia will look to go hard at the Virat Kohli led side as when last time, Australia faced India in the home and away test series, Australia suffered a pounding defeat as they were missing their sublime duo of Steve Smith and David Warner.
As a result, they will be looking to prove a point and avenge the Indians in the four-match Test series though this time it’s going to be Ajinkya Rahane leading the Indian side for the majority chunk of the matches as Virat Kohli is all set to leave Australia after the first test as he’s expecting the birth of his first child.
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‘We Love To Hate Virat Kohli’ – Tim Paine
Recently, when Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine caught up with ABC sport said that Virat Kohli as a player doesn’t bother him much as he’s just another player who he sees him at the toss and plays cricket with, other than which there is no communication whatsoever between the two.
“I get asked a log of questions about Virat Kohli, he’s just another player to me it doesn’t really bother me. There’s not really a relationship there with him to be fair, I see him at the toss and play against him and that’s about it,” Tim Paine told ABC Sport.
Tim Paine further added how Australia love watching Virat Kohli bat because he’s one of the World’s best but they also hate it when he ends up scoring tons of runs against the Australian side.
“With Virat, it is a funny one, we love to hate him but we also love to watch him bat as cricket fans. He certainly is polarising in that type of scenario. We love watching him bat, but we don’t like seeing him score too many runs.
“Australia and India, its a heated competition and he’s obviously a competitive person and so am I, so year there were a few occasions when we had words but that wasn’t because he was the captain and I was the captain, it could have been anyone,” Tim Paine concluded.
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