Virat Kohli credited the IPL for changing the relationships between players from different countries and mentioned that cricketers from Australia are no longer nasty with their sledging on the field, but still remain competitive.
This came when Kohli appeared in a video chat with his former RCB teammate AB de Villiers on his YouTube channel. De Villiers, who retired from the game after IPL 2021, had asked Kohli about the nastiest player on the pitch from the Australian side.
Kohli replied that things had changed due to the Indian Premier League since the players started sharing the dressing room more often.
"The IPL has changed quite a few things. The cricket is still competitive but the verbals and the sledging is not nasty anymore. It has become a game of mutual respect and admiration. Still, you can say that they have the same hunger.
The stuff which was too intense and things that created tension between the teams has significantly gone down, that's what I have experienced this year but not the competitiveness,” Kohli told De Villiers.
Virat Kohli cited the inflammable tension between India and Australia when he led the side in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017. Kohli had said during the series, that he would not want to be friends with any of the Australian players.
"No, it has changed. I thought that was the case, but it has changed for sure. As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I’ve been proven wrong. The thing I said before the first Test, has certainly changed and you won’t hear me say that ever again,” he had further added.
The former captain said that it was a good thing that the nastiness had gone away and there was good camaraderie between the sides.
"I think it is a nice thing forward, it is progressive and if the tensions rise in tournaments like World Cups, you see that anyway. So, I think it is nice to have camaraderie within the players. It is fun to be competitive and not with nastiness,” he said.
