India captain Virat Kohli was spotted taking a jibe at the famous England cricket fans group, Barmy Army, during Day 5 of the recently concluded fourth Test match. He made gestures to roast them as India won the match to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
While Kohli is getting criticized for his act, former England captain Michael Vaughan praised the Indian skipper and said cricket needs more characters like him. Kohli is known for his aggression and in-your-face attitude on the field.
Vaughan, on Fox Sports' The Back Page, said that cricket doesn't have enough players who would get the crowd going or taunt the opponent's fans like Kohli does, and he loves it.
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"Virat Kohli is an incredible leader. He's just got this buzz of energy. He was taking the piss out of the Barmy Army with these trumpet signs. I love it. We don't have enough characters in the game and mimicking the crowd, trying to get his own supporters going. When they came out after lunch he was getting them going. It was like he was at the end of the long jump in the Olympics trying to get the crowd going," he said.
"He's an amazing character and yesterday he gave a tactical masterclass on how to win a Test match. Those that complain are just boring. They don't understand entertainment. We're in the entertainment industry where we need people like Virat Kohli. We need characters," he added.
Kohli finds a way to respond to the criticism strongly with his actions, and Vaughan said he doesn't have any problem with his on-field behavior. "You go back to the 80s and 90s there was character (after character). We work with them; Shane Warne one of the great characters, an absolutely great guy, mad as a box of frogs. But you know that you've got a great character in the commentary box and on the field, and when you get someone like Virat Kohli, who stands out because we don't have a lot of characters, there are not many teams that have characters who are willing to do what Virat does, and he's very prickly, he doesn't like criticism, he's always answering back to anyone that criticizes him, again, I like that, it's not a problem," said Vaughan.
The cricketer-turned-commentator also lauded Kohli for being a Test cricket-loving guy and leading his team to new heights in the format.
"What he's doing with this Indian Test match team is fantastic for the game because we need India to love Test match cricket, and with Virat at the helm leading this side, they're certainly doing that and they're playing to a great standard and they're doing a job on my team," he added.
(With ANI Inputs)
