Should Virat Kohli curb his aggression, will it affect his game if he does that? Is it only about Virat Kohli or his attitude reflects the attitude of our current generation, who probably need to be taught to behave? Here are our views and also those of experts.
Film actor Naseeruddin Shah seems to have gotten himself into a controversy by calling the Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli the “world’s worst behaved player”. While Virat’s fans are panning Mr. Shah for his comments, surprisingly, there are many who agree with Mr. Shah.
In a Facebook post, Naseeruddin stated, “Virat Kohli is not only the world’s best batsman but also the world’s worst behaved player.” He added, “Kohli’s cricketing brilliance pales beside his arrogance and bad manners… And I have no intention of leaving the country by the way.
Does the brand ‘Kohli’ save Virat from getting reprimanded?
This question has come to the fore yet again, during India’s tour of Australia, especially after India lost the second test test match to Australia and where Virat Kohli was involved in a confrontation with Australian skipper Tim Paine.
And because India lost the test match, everybody is asking the question “Should Virat Kohli curb his aggression?”
After India lost the match, and post Naseeruddin Shah’s outburst, several people have said that he needs to tone down his aggression and believes that most of the time he gets away with his antics because Virat is a superstar and the brand ‘Kohli’ is a lot bigger.
Even Sanjay Manjrekar (former Indian cricket) said Virat needs to control his tantrums, and said that most of the time Virat gets away with it because the brand ‘Virat Kohli’ is huge.
“Virat Kohli is such a champion player that we kind of accept everything he does on the pitch. Had Virat Kohli not been the champion player he is, some of his antics on the field would have created quite a stir,” Manjrekar said at the lunch break show on SonyLIV. “You have to behave responsibly at times though. There are others ways to score runs. What I mean is brand Virat Kohli helps him get away with his on-field behaviour,” said Sanjay Manjrekar as reported on Indiatoday.
Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson also echoed a similar sentiment:
“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’. Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful. Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly”.
Will curbing his aggression have an impact on his game?
On day 3 of the second test match, Kohli and Paine were even heard sledging. “If he messes it up, it’s 2-0,” Kohli was heard saying, to which Paine replied “You’ve got to bat first, big head”.
The next day Paine told Kohli “You’re the one that lost it yesterday. Why are you trying to be cool today?” A few balls later, the two captains almost came close to chest bumping when the India skipper walked in front of Paine while he was completing a run.
That’s when the umpires decided to intervene and cool things down.
So while everybody wants Virat to cool down a bit, one thing to note is that this discussion always comes up whenever India does badly and loses a few matches, especially when they are expected to win (as in this case where the Australian team is without Steve Smith and David Warner, their top two batsmen).
So will curbing his aggression affect his playing style?
West Indian batting legend Viv Richards fully supports Virat Kohli’s aggression and says such things are part of the sport and have always been used to upset the opposition.
“I don’t know about sledging, but I love confrontation. And Virat looks like he loves to be in a confrontation. When you say the wrong things, that’s not good. There are times when you say things to upset the opposition, which is part of sport. But when you start getting personal, it’s never good,” sais Viv Richards.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke feels that Virat’ aggression is actually helping him do well, and is also helping the Indian cricket team.
“Virat’s aggression is one of his greatest strengths, that’s the way he likes to play and that’s how he has had success, and that is the way he will continue to play,” said Michael Clarke.
In fact Michael Clarke is critical of the Australian cricket team for their mellowed down approach against India, and feels that attitude will not take them anywhere.
Australian cricketers, who are known to be ruthless on-field, have consciously toned down their on-field aggression after the ball-tampering scandal, in which Steve Smith and David Warner were handed one-year ban.
Can Virat be a Sachin or Rahul Dravid (in Mannerism)?
“Love Kohli the batsman, hate Kohli the person”?
Every-time this topic comes up, there’s a constant comparison of Virat Kohli with former Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who were quite humble and down to earth.
However, that comparison seems a bit unfair because Sachin and Dravid naturally have that kind of a personality right from the beginning, and they never had to change their personality/attitude for whatever reason.
In fact, their lack of aggression was probably the reason Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were not that successful as captains.
Sourav Ganguly, on the other hand, was a lot more aggressive and was successfully able to lead the Indian cricket team for a long team. He even made the team believe they could take on the Aussies on their own turf, with a bit of aggression.
Don’t think Sachin or Rahul would have been able to do that.
Can you imagine Sachin or Rahul Dravid removing their T-shirt and giving it back?
Sourav Ganguly did that after India defeated England; few seasons back, Andrew Flintoff celebrated England’s win over India by removing his T-shirt. Sourav ‘Dada’ Ganguly took the opportunity to give it back to the opponents.
Does his attitude reflects that of our current generation?
Lot of users have commented on whether Virat needs to behave on-field, and it seems lot of people feel this is the problem with the current generation and many thanked Naseeruddin Shah for sharing his views about Virat Kohli’s behaviour and starting this conversation.
“I do agree with Naseeruddin Shah, I think Virat Kohli just reflects the attitude of this generation. We need to teach our kids how to behave,” read one comment.
Virat Kohli also failed to acknowledge the crowd’s standing ovation after he was given out to a controversial catch after scoring 123 runs.
“To me the catch was given out so you accept it and move on and as a player who has scored a hundred you acknowledge the standing ovation. After play he came out and said he had ‘no reason to respect’ me. He lost me then,” said Mitchell Johnson.
It’s true that the younger lot in India today is a lot more competitive, and at times may come across as rude. This is probably because of the current economic scenario in India where the successful ones make mind-boggling figures (money) and a successful career can easily span continents. Also, there are many ‘young’ successful people, which further puts pressure on the younger lot to achieve things faster.
Nevertheless, Virat has cooled down a bit in recent years, and that is probably because he is getting older. And off-field he seems to be a perfectly well-behaved gentleman, as you can see here.
Virat Kohli world’s worst behaved player: Naseeruddin Shah
Someone please show these pictures to Mr. Shah. pic.twitter.com/Kp94tGyCwu
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) December 17, 2018
May be its the competition which fuels the aggressive behaviour in him? May be he will mellow down mire as he ages?
Or perhaps, everybody will brush aside the “aggression” topic if India goes on to win the series against Australia?
What do You Have to Say?
Here are few comments of people who were randomly asked the question “Do you agree that Virat Kohli is the world’s worst behaved player?”
- Definitely, Virat doesn’t have the grace like Sachin Tendulkar does.
- Kohli must understand that humility and civil behaviour would be most appreciated by his fans.
- No, you have to be aggressive when you are playing in Australia.
- Maybe not the worst player, but Virat is certainly the world’s worst behaved captain.
- Kohli may be the worst behaved player in cricket, but there are other sportsmen like Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Neymar, Tiger Woods, etc who are much ahead in this genre.
What do you have to say?
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