Kohli 'Donald Trump' of cricket!
The Australian media has made a scathing accusation on India captain Virat Kohli of being "completely untouchable" and "a law unto himself". The Daily Telegraph compared Kohli to the United States President Donald Trump, saying "Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport".
This comes after Kohli accused the Australian players of trolling Team India physio Patrick Farhart during the Ranchi Test.
"They (four-five of them) started taking Patrick's name. I don't know why. He's our physio. His job is to treat me. I don't find the reason behind it. I could not understand. You must ask why they have started taking his name," Kohli said. While saving a run on the first day of the third Test, Kohli hurt his right shoulder and Farhart rushed onto the field to attain to his injury. Kohli eventually left the field with the physio and was back in action only on the third day.
Later, Glenn Maxwell was seen mocking Kohli's injury when he imitated his action by clutching his right shoulder after his dive to save a boundary. The Indian skipper, too, gave it back with a similar gesture when David Warner got out in Australia's second innings.
However, Smith insisted that they never disrespected Farhart, who himself is an Australian.
"Virat was having a go at me out in the middle and saying how I was disrespecting Patrick Farhart when actually it was the exact opposite. If I was to do anything, (I was inferring) he did a pretty terrific job to get Virat back on the field after that shoulder," Smith said.
DRS SAGA
The Kohli-Smith quarrel started in Bengaluru over a DRS incident when the Australian captain was caught seeking help from his team's dressing room over a review after he was trapped leg before by Umesh Yadav.
While Smith called it a "brain fade", Kohli warned the visitors of "crossing the line". International Cricket Council put an end to the saga by not pressing charges against Smith or Kohli.
"Test captains, under the rules of the game, are supposed to be the flagbearers for upholding the spirit of the game, yet the ICC has allowed the Indian captain to destroy one of the foundations on which the game has been played for more than a century," The Daily Telegraph wrote.
"The fact Kohli has not been sanctioned for calling the Australians systematic cheats or his latest unfounded attack on Smith shows that he is completely untouchable."
"The ICC won't fine him. Not even the BCCI, who through their broadcaster apologised to Smith, can get their skipper to tow the party line."
'KOHLI DISRESPECTS GAME'
The report further compared Kohli to Arjuna Ranatunga for showing no respect to his opponent.
"Like former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Kohli relies on a flagrant disrespect of his opponents and the game to fuel himself and his team.
Soft cricketing administrators have given rise to a bat-wielding Trump."
'KOHLI, AUSTRALIA'S NO.1 ENEMY'
There's no doubt that Australian fans hate Kohli. India and Australia contests have always seen sparks flying, be it "Monkeygate" or Ricky Ponting playing an umpire on the field or Kohli's finger gesture to the Sydney crowd during his first tour Down Under.
"Kohli is now Australia's No. 1 enemy or the "head of the snake", as Nathan Lyon has put it. The Australian boys are quite prepared to take it up to him and this series has been compulsive viewing. This is what Test match cricket is about. It's the same when we play England for the Ashes or when India meet Pakistan," Dean Jones wrote in his column for The Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday.
The series has been full of ups and downs and emotions have taken the centrestage ahead of cricket in the last two Tests. Australia came into the series as underdogs but Smith's men fought fire-with-fire to win the first Test in Pune. However, Kohli's men bounced back smartly to clinch a 75-run win in the second Test in Bengaluru before the third Test ended in draw. The series stands 1-1 at the moment with the decider to be played in Dharamsala from Saturday.