Madan Lal certainly enjoys it, and he wonders why people can't fathom the aggressive, hostile mode that Indian captain Virat Kohli gets himself into, especially since it seems to bring the out of him.
Kohli has never shied away from letting the opposition know what he thinks about them and even snapped at journalists during press conferences after losing his cool on their uncomfortable questions.
WATCH - "Not the right place to create controversy," an irritated Virat Kohli tells off a journalist
For Lal, the former India pacer, however, it is about him "being targeted again and again".
"I don't understand why people in India are asking him to mellow down," Cricbuzz quoted Lal on Kohli's unabashed on-field behaviour. "First, everyone wanted a very aggressive captain and now you want Kohli to stop his aggressive streak. I love the way he is on the field."
"Earlier, people used to say that Indians are not aggressive; now that we've become aggressive people question that and ask why we are so aggressive. I enjoy Kohli's aggression; we need a captain like him."
Kohli is enduring a rare phase in his career at the moment where he hasn't been at his best. The great batsman struggled to put big scores on the board during the limited-overs series in New Zealand and then failed to counter the moving ball in the Test series, averaging just 9.50 from four innings in Wellington and Christchurch.
Lal, though, reckons it is only a matter time before he comes back strongly.
"He was out of form. You can say it was a loss of confidence. That (series against New Zealand) doesn't take anything away from him. He is still the world's best player," he said.
"At times, technical flaws come in and you then try harder and harder but still you don't come out of it. It happens to the best of players."
Lal is now part of the Cricket Advisory Committee of the BCCI that recently rejigged the national selection panel, appointing chairman Sunil Joshi and new panel member Harvinder Singh. The duo joined Jatin Paranjape, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi who still have a year left in their tenures.
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
