Virat Kohli and Travis Head incident ‘nowhere to be compared’ against infamous 1981 MCG Test ‘walk-off’: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar shot down any comparison of the bad blood on show between Kohli and Head compared to the heated 1981 battle between India and Australia.

The Indian-Australian rivalry saw a fresh spark during RCB’s match against SRH, in which some bad blood boiled up between Virat Kohli and Travis Head. Barbs were swapped on the field with the odd sledge tossed around, but the highlight of the incident was Kohli ignoring Head when the teams shook hands upon the conclusion of the match.

Virat Kohli refused to shake hands with Travis Head following an incident between the pair. (ANI Picture Service)

Kohli is no stranger to beef with Aussies on the field and in the crowd alike, but tensions between India and Australia can be traced back to the infamous ‘walk-off’ incident on the 1981 MCG Test between the two nations, when an incensed Sunil Gavaskar nearly threatened to pull his team from the contest after being enraged by the Australian team following an LBW decision going against him.

Speaking for the new Midwicket Stories talk-show, Gavaskar reunited with former Australian captain Allan Border, as the pair discussed that situation and remembered what took place that fateful afternoon. However, questioned about the incident later on in light of the Kohli-Head incident, Gavaskar played down the level of spice compared to the MCG incident.

“Nothing similar happened, nowhere to be compared. You will have to ask both of them what happened,” said Gavaskar to reporters later.

‘Anybody can snap…’

Reflecting on the nature of these heated contests, Gavaskar said: “In the heat of the moment things happen, anybody can snap. During our time there weren’t stump mics, so nothing went out. But with stump mics you can hear what goes on. At the end of the day, when you play for your country, you give just about everything, lood, sweat toil, and tears.”

The sit-down talk between Gavaskar and Border saw the pair revisit the infamous 1981 incident, with Gavaskar clarifying once again that his fury in the moment was not for the wrong call, having gotten an inside edge onto his pad. Rather, it was for the response of certain Australian players led by Dennis Lillee who ramped up the aggression against him at the end of a 165-run opening stand with Chetan Chauhan.

“Everything goes to the public domain a lot sooner… the clip that you saw of 1981, there have been videos of the 1981 incident, but two people in AB and me talking about it, that’s probably the first time where people got to know what happened, so it’s taken that long,” stated Gavaskar. “But now thanks to social media, it’s probably a lot more immediate in how it will come through.”

Of course, the last laugh in that match belonged to India, who won their third ever Test match on Australian soil thanks to Kapil Dev’s famous five-fer. Gavaskar was captain on that occasion, while Border would soon step into the role for Australia and begin the lineage of combative Aussie leaders that have come to define cricket Down Under.