'Annoyed Me When They Said Don't Sledge Kohli': Former AUS Captain Speaks His Heart Out
Kohli had a rivalry with Tim Paine [X]
Former Australian captain, Tim Paine has stated that many former cricketers told him not to sledge Virat Kohli, which used to annoy him.
Virat Kohli, enjoys batting against the Aussies (be it Tests, ODIs or T20I format). The former India captain has slammed 2042 runs in 25 Test matches against them, and loves to face the hostile crowd present in the Aussie stadiums.
He thrives under extreme pressure and knows how to give it back to the opposition when the chips are down.
Paine and Kohli had altercations during the 2018 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when India won the series 2-1, Down Under.
Paine speaks on banter with Virat Kohli
“People used to say, don't sledge Virat. If you don't sledge Virat... most of the time still get runs, so it doesn't really matter whether you're talking to him or not. I wouldn't try too much to fire up Virat, but I would try and distract him if I could because if you can get a bit of a distraction, he might play a bad shot or lose his concentration.
But it used to annoy me when people say, oh, don't sledge him, because people don't get better because someone's talking to them,” Pain told CricTracker.
Kohli was the captain of the Indian team which won the Test series in Australia in 2018. Interestingly, Paine was opposition captain as he saw his rival clinch the series in emphatic fashion.
Kohli will once again commence his rivalry with the Australian team, when India tour Down Under for a 5-Match Test series, starting from November.