India-Australia encounters have a rich history of heated moments during the course of the past two decades. The intensity is always high when both these teams lock horns. Former India cricketer Zaheer Khan has urged the cricketers to pick up a fight with the Aussie as the visitors look to bounce back after a poor start to their tour.
From ‘Monkeygate’ Scandal in Sydney 2008 or the verbal altercation between Indian skipper Virat Kohli and former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson to the Steve Smith ‘Brain fade’ scandal in 2017, these have given an extra dimension to the contest.
Pick up a fight with the Aussies – Zaheer Khan
However, the ongoing series has lacked that aspect with cricketers showing a lot more friendly behaviour to their opponents because of their camaraderie in IPL. In the light of this, Zaheer Khan has urged the Indian team to exchange some verbal volleys with the Aussies in order to bring intensity on the field, something that has been missing from the Men in Blues.
“Knowing the coach Ravi Shastri, he should take a leaf out of old school cricket and maybe remind Smith and Warner about what has happened a couple of years back (sandpaper gate). At times when things aren’t going your way you just have to find something to bring out that intensity.” Zaheer Khan said during a conversation with Cricbuzz.
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“They have to pick that fight maybe. Not in a bad way — staying in the boundaries and bringing out that intensity at times. Forget about what is going your way, what’s not and just get in the zone, which really helps bring out the best in you,” said Zaheer. “Ravi has been good at it so I think that’s something he should definitely ponder because it’s going to be a long tour. They should try everything and anything possible.” he added.
Meanwhile, Team India won’t mind engaging in war of words if that helps them dish out results in their favour. With the ODI series gone out of hands, the visitors will be desperate to pull things back in the T20Is before the all-important Test series.
