Former India head coach Ravi Shastri recalled how he once had to stop Virat Kohli from getting into a scuffle with ex-Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson during the Melbourne Test of the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series down under.
Virat Kohli has always been at his ultimate best when it comes to facing Australians. This series was the first time Kohli took over as India’s full-time Test team captain after MS Dhoni retired from the format mid-series. And this MCG test saw him hitting twin hundreds on his captaincy debut and taking on Australia’s best pacers, with the bat and in aggression.
In response to a question on whether he ever had to stop Kohli from picking up a fight, Shastri brought up the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour, which is well-known for Kohli's Test captaincy debut and his genuine ascent to prominence as India's leader and star for years to come.
“Never… no once, once. I’ll tell you about it. This was Melbourne, right? "And he and Mitch were constantly having a go, because the first ball he played, he hit him on the head," said Shastri as Kohli laughed alongside him on the Obe8 podcast.
This was in reference to the on-field clash between Johnson and Kohli, after which the pacer had hit the batter, after which the two almost came to blows.
“And he’s off to a start at lunchtime. Both going up… As he enters the dressing room, he’s looking at Mitch like this. I had to catch him like this: "Come here, come here, focus on your batting." I think of those days and sometimes your hair stands,” remembered Shastri.
