[Watch] “He kept doing it, kept doing it” - Nathan Lyon recalls Virat Kohli’s ‘Federer’ story from 2014 Adelaide Test
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon recently shared a story about how Team India batter and former captain Virat Kohli kept calling 'Federer' at the non-striker's end.
Virat Kohli was handed the reins of Test captaincy during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2014/15. In the first Test at Adelaide, Kohli showed that he had put the bad form of the England series that year behind him and responded to his detractors with two tons in two innings.
In a video on Tuesday (November 19), Nathan Lyon recalled the on-field battles between him and Kohli, delving into the finer details of the incident. Lyon said (via cricket.com.au):
"The one battle that comes out to me is the 2014 Test at the Adelaide Oval where he got hundreds in both innings. I was bowling to him and he was batting that easily. He'd come down to the non-striker's end and just say 'Federer'. And I was like, 'Oh okay, what is this?'"
Lyon further added:
"He kept doing it, kept doing it. Every time he'd come down there he was like, 'Federer, Federer'. And I said, 'Mate, I don't know if I'm wrong but we are playing the wrong sport if you think you're Roger Federer'. And he goes, 'Nah nah, I've got a beautiful forehand'. I'm just like, 'Ah okay, you're a decent player when you can just sit there and do that mid-innings.'"
Take a look at the video below:
Virat Kohli and Nathan Lyon could face off yet again in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25
Virat Kohli could be up against Nathan Lyon yet again in Australian conditions. The last time Kohli did so was in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide in 2020 where a run-out off Nathan Lyon's bowling saw Kohli trudge back disappointingly to the pavilion for 74.
Overall, Kohli has scored 317 runs against Lyon in Australia, and has lost his wicket to him thrice. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top this time, should the pair face each other at the Optus Stadium, Perth, in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, starting November 22.