Australia vs India 2018: Virat Kohli More Australian Than Indian - Matthew Hayden

Former Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden feels Indian National Cricket team skipper Virat Kohli is competitive and proactive and his antics don’t cross the line.

Meanwhile, Kohli received sharp criticisms following his aggressive behaviour at Perth. He shared some heated exchanges with his counterpart, Tim Paine, as the umpires had to intervene. Sunil Gavaskar and Sanjay Manjrekar have criticised Kohli for being over-aggressive in the second Test. However, Matthew Hayden has backed Virat Kohli, saying that he is within the line.

“Virat Kohli, I think, is more Australian than Indian in many ways,” Hayden told Mumbai Mirror. “He has been playing this way. Kohli plays the game in a very competitive spirit. He is very animated, very passionate, and he is very emotional. I think a lot of Australians at all levels of sport play the game like that.

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They are also very competitive, they enjoy the heat of the battle. As long as there is a line and I don’t think Virat has crossed that. No match referee or conjectures off the field. So everything has remained on the field,” he added.

Matthew Hayden’s comments come after Michael Hussey had also defended Kohli saying Kohli handed the situation well.

“This is a tough series, and you expect the odd thing to be said. It did not get out of hand. I thought both players handled it well. It was nipped in the bud before it could escalate. It showed both teams will play tough cricket and they are not going to back down,” he concluded.