When India take on Australia, there is a simmering rivalry between the two sides, but off the field, the players are quite cordial with one another. Virat Kohli shares a great rapport with several Australian players and there have been instances when they have pulled each other’s legs on social media. Australian opener David Warner had shared a picture of his collection of 18 bats on Instagram. “Stock-taking time,” Warner had captioned the picture. And very soon, Virat Kohli left a comment on the Australian batsman’s post which prompted several responses from the fans.
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“And you wanted one more bat from me,” Virat Kohli commented on Warner’s Instagram post.
“@virat.kohli as I said I need just one,” Warner replied with laughing emojis
Kohli, for all his ferocity and competitiveness, has always been quite vocal about being good friends with many of the Australian players. He was even awarded the spirit of cricket award for his gesture during the World Cup.
Smith also praised Kohli’s batting abilities and leadership qualities as he stated: “Yeah, he is terrific. His batting numbers just speak for themselves. I think he’s an incredible player in all three formats and I think we will see him break many records. He’s already broken plenty of them and I see him breaking many more over the years. He has got the hunger for runs and doesn’t stop getting them. Hopefully he can stop getting them against Australia, that’ll be nice.”
{{/usCountry}}Smith also praised Kohli’s batting abilities and leadership qualities as he stated: “Yeah, he is terrific. His batting numbers just speak for themselves. I think he’s an incredible player in all three formats and I think we will see him break many records. He’s already broken plenty of them and I see him breaking many more over the years. He has got the hunger for runs and doesn’t stop getting them. Hopefully he can stop getting them against Australia, that’ll be nice.”
{{/usCountry}}After winning the award, Kohli told ICC: “I’m surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things.”
On the Smith incident, he said: “That moment was purely understanding an individual’s situation. I don’t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of.”
“That should not be a representation of our fans and what we stand as a cricketing nation, a sporting nation. We need to all take responsibility towards that. Intimidate the opposition, definitely try and have an upper hand but in a matter that is not targeting someone emotionally.