Johnson calls Kohli 'silly', Gavaskar wants leadership review if India don't win series

Sudhir Gupta 10:31 19/12/2018
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  • Virat Kohli with coach Ravi Shastri.

    Indian captain Virat Kohli received heavy criticism in Australia and back home after his side’s crushing defeat to Australia in the second Test at Perth.

    Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson called Kohli “disrespectful” and “silly” over his heated exchanges with his counterpart Tim Paine during the Perth Test.

    Meanwhile, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar criticised the team’s “selection blunders” in 2018 that meant India lost Tests they could have won.

    Kohli and Paine had a go at each other almost throughout the Test and at one point almost collided, forcing the umpire to intervene. Australia had the last laugh as they won by 146 runs to level the four-match series 1-1.

    Johnson said Kohli’s actions were unnecessary. “At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports.

    “Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful.

    “Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal. But this Test left the Indian captain looking silly,” he added.

    But Johnson said Kohli did not stay true to his pre-series claim that he didn’t intend to start any confrontation.

    “What we saw this Test says otherwise,” Johnson said. “From my experiences with him and what I am seeing as an observer now, not much has changed. It was disappointing and that is not the only area where he let himself down.”

    Meanwhile, Gavaskar said that the roles of Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri need to be reviewed if India fail to win the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

    He said that since India’s tour of South Africa at the beginning of the year, India made huge selection mistakes.

    “We have been seeing this – the selection blunders that have been committed since the tour of South Africa,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak channel.

    “It has cost the team because it has lost matches which could’ve been won if the proper selection had been made.

    “They have to look at the combination of their team, look at the hole that needs to be plugged and pick the men to do it. If they do that then they can certainly win the next two matches but if they don’t, and that too against this Australian team which does not have Steve Smith or David Warner, then the selectors need to think whether we are getting any benefit from this lot – the captain, coach and support staff.”

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