Petulant Kohli fires off his own pitch facts, but misses the point entirely
DELHI: Virat Kohli clearly doesn’t understand the art of subtlety just yet. Fine batsman, yes. Emerging leaders, indeed. But, when it comes to by-passing the endless and obvious traps that the media routinely set for overcharged young skippers, Kohli is coming short.
When, for the umpteenth time, the state of the pitch came up early in his captain’s presser yesterday, Kohli had the option to shoulder arms, just like Proteas counterpart Hashim Amla did. But, as we have come to learn, Kohli is a man who plays at most balls. “I don’t relate to it. I don’t understand it and I certainly don’t entertain it. It doesn’t bother me or the team. People can write articles as they wish,” he growled.
Had that been all he said, it may have been almost believable. But Kohli had gone to the trouble of doing homework on all low-scoring Test matches in South Africa, and regaled a startled gathering with his findings.
“Well, there have been three scores of under 50 in Tests in South Africa. I haven’t seen any articles about that. Teams For details on last night’s T20 Challenge match between the Warriors and Cape Cobras, visit www.capetimes.co.za. For live tweets and updates on the cricket and other sporting codes, follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter. have been bundled out less than 100, six times in South Africa. There’s not been an article about that. Articles are there to be written,” he bristled.
India’s petulant stance on the whole pitch affair is now bordering on bizarre. To a man, they have all trundled out the line that they have to face the same challenges abroad.
They are missing the point entirely, which is odd for a team that has been very good at isolating a spot on the wicket and hitting it relentlessly. Off it, sadly, their scatter-gun approach has won them few admirers.
“I don’t understand why we are sitting here we are not talking about the fact that we are 2-0 up in the series, and again we are trying to criticise our players,” Kohli swiped.
“But, if that’s the only point that is going to be raised in press conferences and debates then, as a cricketer, you don’t see any sense in answering those questions after a while.”
If it was only that easy, Mr Kohli. The ICC’s release of match referee Jeff Crowe’s assessment of the Nagpur strip has provided actual ammunition to be fired at India’s achievements, and even the usually brazen Ravi Shastri has slunk back into a corner, insisting that discussing the pitch is beyond his jurisdiction.
The events of Bangalore, where they were all over South Africa on a good wicket, have been sullied by the dustbowls of Mohali and Nagpur.
“I think it was good Test cricket. People want to see results. People want to see exciting cricket and that is what has happened in this series. We have certainly enjoyed it,” Kohli sneered.
The general consensus has been that most people, even in India, have not enjoyed it much. And now, even Kohli’s great homecoming at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium is being played under a cloud.
“This ground is where everything fell in place for me,” Kohli smiled. Today, he will walk out in front of friends and family, leading his country. It is a mighty moment in a career that has hurtled along at a fair pace.
And yet, far from a coronation, there is consternation and the constant need for explanation. It could have, and should have, all been so different.