“I know you guys hate me & I like that” - When Virat Kohli gave a stunning response during BGT 2014-15
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has often been involved in on-field chatters, particularly against the Australians. His aggressive nature and attitude of giving it back to the opponents have seen him involved in several verbal spats.
One such incident occurred during the 2015-14 Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) when Kohli was involved in a spat with Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson during the Melbourne Test.
The star Indian batter was in fine form and scoring runs, which did not go down well with the hosts, who were sledging him throughout. Johnson threw the ball back at Kohli after a delivery and it hit the batter's body. Later, Kohli hit Johnson for a boundary and blew kisses at him.
When asked about the incident in a press conference later, Virat Kohli replied that sledging was going on throughout the day.
"They were calling me a spoiled brat and I said maybe that's the way I am and I know you guys hate me and I like that. So I don't mind having a chat on the field and it worked in my favor I guess. I like playing against Australia because it's very hard for them to stay calm and I don't mind an argument on the field. It really excites me and brings the best out of me. So they don't seem to be learning the lesson," Virat Kohli had said.
The incident with Johson did fire Kohli up as he went on to score a brilliant ton, smashing 169 runs. When asked how he deals with such situations, Kohli replied:
"If I have a go at someone and I feel I don't want to get out now, that's wrong on my part. Me talking to someone doesn't change anything when I have the bat in hand. He's still bowling a ball, I'm still holding a bat, which is how you play cricket. So that didn't play on my mind at all. I was really annoyed with him (Johnson) hitting me with the ball and I told him that's not on. Try and hit the stumps next time, not my body."
When Virat Kohli responded to whether he respects the Australians
In the same press conference, Virat Kohli was also asked if he respects the Australians.
"I'm not going out there to take unnecessary words or chat from someone. I'm going out there to play cricket, back myself and there's no good reason I should respect someone unnecessarily if they are not. I respect quite a few of them (the Australians) but someone who doesn't respect me, I've got no reason to respect him. There were words in Adelaide as well where they said no unnecessary respect for him. I said I don't need it. I'm out here to play cricket not earn anyone's respect. As long as I'm scoring runs I'm happy with it. If you like it, good. If you don't, I'm not bothered," the former Indian skipper had replied.
"I don't really care what they think as far as respecting me or me respecting them is concerned. I've got a nice sort of friendship with a few of them. But someone who's not backing off, someone who's saying anything that comes to mouth, I've got no reason to respect it," Kohli added.
Kohli has scored 2165 runs in 27 Tests against the Aussies at an average of 47.06.