Much before the commencement of India’s tour to Australia, the talks of tackling the Indian skipper Virat Kohli on the field have taken a buzz as several prominent names offering their views on the matter. Last week, South African skipper Faf du Plessis suggested Australia avoid confrontation with Virat and give him the “silent treatment” in an attempt to keep his bat quiet.
The latest former player to speak about Kohli is the Test legend Ian Healy, who feels that the batsman has come a long way as compared to days when he flipped his middle finger to a hostile Sydney crowd during the 2011-12 tour to Australia.
Last year during Australia’s tour of India, Healy had said that he was losing respect for Kohli as he felt the Indian skipper was pressurizing his team-mates with his feisty attitude. After hearing of Healy’s comments, Virat also insisted that followers of the game search “when he was given out in Centurion down the leg side” on YouTube, citing it as an example of Healy’s misbehavior when it came to responding to unfair umpiring decisions.
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A calmer Kohli, believes Healy, is good for the series and will set the tone for the series.
As quoted in AAP, Healy said, “He’s learned to play with more respect these days. I love the way he plays. Since then, I’ve felt he has played more respectfully to the ethics of the game and I think he’s been a lot calmer. Which he should be, for a great player. He did also forget that just before saying that, I did say he is the best batsman I have ever seen. So selective memory but that’s OK. I’ve been happy with his improvement. Now our Australian team is going to show similar improvements.”
This is Kohli’s third Test tour to Australia, has been their highest -runscorer in 2011-12 when in his first year of Test cricket (he made 300 runs in four Tests) and then putting up a record 692 runs at 86.50, with four centuries, in 2014-15.
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Describing his further, Healy said, “He’s always the one to watch. He’s coming off an English tour where his side wasn’t successful, so he’ll be really keen to do well here. You don’t predict that even the best bowlers in the world will trouble a batsman like that. But we’ve got some firepower. They’ll be capable of giving him a really hard session or two. It’s up to him whether he can get through it.”
Kohli’s prolific record in Australia is only matched by his one-field duels with Australian cricketers over the years, and on Tuesday he stated that his team will stand up for itself if the line is crossed by the hosts while defining aggression ahead of the much-anticipated series’ opening game in Brisbane.
