The Australian media has been repeatedly targeting Kohli, both for his poor form and behaviour. However, in their most recent attack, they accused him of being 'completely untouchable' and 'a law unto himself'.
The DRS drama of the ongoing India-Australia series had prompted Sunil Gavaskar in terming the Australian media as an 'extension of their support staff' and his words were vindicated by an Aussie daily compared Indian captain Virat Kohli to United States President Donald Trump.
The Australian media has been repeatedly targeting Kohli, both for his poor form and behaviour. However, in their most recent attack, they accused him of being 'completely untouchable' and 'a law unto himself'.
The Daily Telegraph article went to read,"Virat Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport. Just like President Trump, Kohli decided to blame the media as a means of trying to hide the egg smeared right across his face."
This happened after Kohli had accused Australian players of disrespecting Indian cricket team's physio Patrick Farhart while taking a dig at Australian media for asking controversial questions.
"It's funny all our guys (Indian media) ask about cricket as the first thing and you (Australian journalist) ask about something controversial," said Kohli.
“But it’s Okay.
“These things happen on the field. They (four-five of them) started taking Patrick’s name (Indian physio Patrick Farhart). I don’t know why. He’s our physio. His job is to treat me. I don’t find the reason behind it. I could not understand. You must ask him why they have started taking his name," he added.
His counterpart Steve Smith however dismissed the rumours saying, "Virat was having a go at me out in the middle and saying how I was disrespecting Patrick Farhart when actually it was the exact opposite. If I was to do anything, (I was inferring) he did a pretty terrific job to get Virat back on the field after that shoulder," Smith said.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) were involved in a bitter stand-off over the DRS-controversy. Smith was seen seeking the dressing room's advice after being adjudged LBW during the Bengaluru Test which India won 75 runs. The Indian board then withdrew its complaint against Smith after ICC decided not to take action against him.
But the matter which should have died down by now was reignited as The Daily Telegraph article went on to blame ICC and BCCI saying, "Soft cricketing administrators have given rise to a bat-wielding Trump."
The Aussie media believe that Kohli should have been reprimanded for his actions but just like the Indian said, 'These things happen on the field', it's better to end the matter then and there and carry on with the thrilling series which is levelled at 1-1 with one match to go.
Earlier Fox Sports Australia showed the audacity to put Kohli in the same bracket as animals, which in itself was a deplorable act. And now this latest attack proves that there's only one reason behind such a hate campaign - To disturb Kohli's concentration before the series deciding Dharamsala Test which starts on March 25. The Indian captain is going through a lean patch and the Australian media is trying to cash in on that as like their players, they feel that Kohli is 'public enemy No. 1' and if they can unsettle him, the whole team will collapse. But that may not be the case as the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha have shown that they are more than capable of handling tense situations without their captain.
Also just before the start of the series, the former Aussie players had warned the current crop to not sledge Kohli as that would drive him to perform even better. While the juniors have followed the words of their seniors, the Aussie media might have just provided Kohli the fuel to fight back hard. And if the captain, who keeps a regular tab on media proceedings, is able to channelise his anger into a great innings, India would be half their in regaining Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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