Even though India and Australia have already faced some issues regarding confrontation in the ongoing Test series, and hence, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli has come under the scanner over verbal duels with his Aussie counterpart Tim Paine on Day 3 and 4 of the second Test played in Perth recently.
Despite the fact that both of them didn’t lose their temper as they just had a casual verbal banter, the umpires had to intervene asking both the captains to rein themselves in. There were also reactions from former Australian and Indian players over Kohli’s gesture on the ground but there were others with a differing opinion as well.
Former India pacers Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar on Wednesday came in support of Kohli over his gesture on the ground. While Zaheer is of the opinion that the Indian skipper should stick to his success formula and not try to do something different, Praveen felt that it was the same aggression that Virat had played with at all levels of his cricketing career and there shouldn’t be any issue if he is doing the same while playing for India.
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As per the reports in IndiaTV, Zaheer said, “I would say (Virat) stick to what you know best. Stick to what has got you so much of success. You can’t move away from your success formula. It doesn’t matter what others are saying (about Kohli). Series in Australia have always been (intense) like this.”
On the other hand, during the launch of Ferit Cricket Bash, Praveen said, “Kohli played with aggression at the U-16, U-19 and Ranji Trophy level. What is the issue if he is showing the same aggression while playing for India? I have played a lot of cricket with him and I can safely say that he can’t play his best cricket without aggression.”
Besides defending the Indian skippers, the two former fast bowlers also lauded the performance of the current Indian pace battery which has taken 20 wickets in both the Tests played so far.
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Calling the current attack to be India’s best ever, Zaheer said: “I think as a unit, yes (they are the best ever) when you look at the four-five fast bowlers on tour. In a long long time, you can see the potential of each and every fast bowler including the bench strength.”
The Australia-India series is leveled at 1-1 at the moment with the third match set to commence in Melbourne on December 26.
