• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Virat Kohli Shut Down Trolls For Arch Rival Mitchell Starc In Rare Yet Touching Flashback

Virat Kohli Shut Down Trolls For Arch-Rival Mitchell Starc In Rare Yet Touching Flashback

Akshita Patel

When Virat Kohli stood tall by Mitchell Starc [Source: @ICC/X.com]When Virat Kohli stood tall by Mitchell Starc [Source: @ICC/X.com]

Back in January 2019, fans were taken by surprise when Virat Kohli, India’s fiery captain, came out in full support of Australia’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc. At the time, Starc was facing heavy criticism from former players and experts for his inconsistent form during the historic Test series against India.

Starc had picked up 13 wickets in seven innings at an average of 34.53, below his career standards. Legend Shane Warne had questioned his control and body language, and the noise around Starc’s form grew louder with every match. 

Even though his captain, Tim Paine, defended him, many felt Starc had lost his edge as Australia lost 2-1 at home.

Virat Kohli Called Out Harsh Criticism On Mitchell Starc

Amid criticism from former Australian legends, Mitchell Starc found support from the then Indian Test captain and his arch nemesis, Virat Kohli. 

Kohli, who had played alongside Starc at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, had a very different take. Speaking about his former teammate, Kohli said he was surprised by the magnitude of the criticism aimed at Starc. 

He stressed that Australia needed to back their No.1 bowler instead of piling more pressure on him.

"He is a very skilful bowler. He has got the right mindset. He has been your No.1 bowler for years now. I am a little surprised with the magnitude of the criticism that has come to him. If he is your best bowler, you give him space to work things out and not mount more pressure on him. Because you don’t want to lose a guy like that who is so skilled and wins games," Kohli said.

Kohli further added that Australia’s bowlers were not as poor as they were being portrayed. Instead, he credited India’s batting for handling them well. 

He even recalled a spell by Pat Cummins to him and Cheteshwar Pujara in Adelaide, where they barely scored eight runs in nine overs, showing how disciplined the Aussie attack really was. 

"I wouldn’t say they bowled badly, I would look at it as we have batted well. They have always bowled in areas which are challenging to you as a batsman. I mean Cummins bowled a spell to me and (Cheteshwar) Pujara, about nine overs in Adelaide, we hardly got eight runs in that spell. So we just played it out well. I think their bowling has been absolutely fine from where I see it," he added.

These kind words from Virat Kohli shocked many, considering his heated history with Mitchell Starc. Both exchanged words multiple times on the fields and had heated confrontations. 

However, whatever rivalry they had was restricted to on-field chaos only as off the field, Kohli had immense respect for Starc as a generational pacer.