“He’s got to be a lot more respectful of his opponents”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Ian Healy has revealed that he is starting to lose respect for India captain Virat Kohli.
Healy expressed his disappointment towards the fact that Kohli feels it is necessary to sledge the Australian players on a consistent basis in their ongoing Test match in Bangalore.
After verbally battling with Australian counterpart Steve Smith, Kohli took aim at opener Matt Renshaw, reminding him of the toilet break he needed in the first Test in Pune.
Not only does Healy feel that Kohli should tone down his sledging, but he pointed out that it is having a detrimental effect on the rest of the Indian team.
“The pressure is starting to tell on (Kohli). I’m losing respect for him,” Healy told SEN. “He’s got to be a lot more respectful of his opponents. The stuff he did with Steve Smith was unacceptable.
“I’ve said in the past, he (Kohli) is the best batsman I’ve ever seen. His feistiness and real aggression towards the opposition has been good (in the past), especially when he was not captain. It would lead his team with him. They’re more timid than they look and they let on, the Indian cricketers.
“So Kohli’s aggression was good for them. But I think it’s not good for them anymore. He’s really putting some pressure on (his players). You can read pressure all over Ravi Ashwin’s face. I think there are massive cracks showing in (Kohli).”
Ex-Australia opener Simon Katich on the other hand felt that the exchange between Kohli and Smith showed the amount of passion both players have for representing their country and for their love of the game.
“I thought both of them handled it extremely well. You could tell there was a lot of emotion out there, India were desperate for wickets. They know Steve Smith is a huge wicket,” Katich said on ABC’s Grandstand at Stumps podcast. “I think Steve Smith handled it well too, he had a bit of a laugh. He took the mickey out of Ishant, Ishant took the mickey out of him. The umpires handled it well.
“All in all, the captains both deserve a lot of credit because that could have easily gotten out of hand. It could have gotten out of hand but it didn’t courtesy of the two captains.”