Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian cricketer and cricket commentator, is really not pleased with Captain Virat Kohli’s on-field attitude and antics in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying his behavior would not be acceptable, as it did not look good for him both as a batsman and as a captain.
His comment came after Kohli and Tim Paine exchanged some words in Perth that made headlines on the Day 4 of the ongoing second Test of the four-match series on Monday (December 17).
Manjrekar told Sony Six, “…that last gesture, Virat Kohli coming in the way of Tim Paine, that was completely uncalled for. Actually, what if Kohli was not a such a great player getting all the runs that he does — some of his antics and behavior on the field would have created quite a bit of stir and got a lot more criticism. It’s just that he is such a champion batsman, people are sort of accepting that.”
He continued, “In this Test match, in this series so far, the guy who has been most aggravated on the field on both sides has been the Indian captain. He can get runs despite having this kind of approach to cricket.”
Manjrekar wasn’t pleased with Kohli’s celebrations after scoring 25th Test ton in Perth, saying: “I think, runs can be got in different ways. Rahul Dravid has shown it. Sachin Tendulkar has shown it. I love the way he bats but a lot of the things he does, apart from his batting, something I am not a big fan of. The celebration after he got a hundred, with the bat and the bat does the talking, that was totally unnecessary. Who is questioning Virat Kohli’s batsmanship that he has to show that the bat is doing all the talking.”
Meanwhile, the cricket pundit believes that the Indian captain gets away with a lot because of the ‘brand’ -being an animated person who celebrates wickets by sometimes going over the top with the expressions.
He added, “For example, I mentioned Kohli, the brand and that’s why he gets away with a lot of things. A lot of people haven’t talked about his reaction after he was given out [on Sunday]. Any other player – low profile name – I am sure would have got some kind of a warning from the referee.”
Manjrekar signed off by saying “We have heard nothing from the officials about his behavior when he walked off. If you see that again, and at some point, we have to show it, because there’s a clear show of dissent in public that he was given out. He was mouthing something and it was really out there for everyone to see. And I think again, the Virat Kohli brand has helped Virat Kohli not get the rap on the knuckle that he deserves.”
(With Indian Express Inputs)
