Australian Media At Times Has Been Disgraceful In Regards To The Way They Have Treated Virat Kohli, Says Michael Clarke

Former international captains Sourav Ganguly and Michael Clarke have come down hard at the Australia journalist Dennis Freedman for his controversial tweet on India captain Virat Kohli.

With the Indian players not playing in the recently-concluded series between Pakistan and World XI, the journalist tried to take a dig at them and in doing so he crossed the line as he compared Kohli and his teammates with sweepers. He posted old photo of Kohli when he was cleaning the stands at Eden Gardens as a part of Swachh Bharat campaign and wrote:“Sweepers clean the stadium in readiness for the World XI match”.

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“It is in very bad taste because Virat Kohli is a popular face everywhere. But that’s what has happened with Australia over the years. I think Virat Kohli should not bother he should just keep hitting those deliveries which come up because he’s a remarkable player in one-day cricket,” Ganguly told India Today.

“Virat won’t care whatsoever, if anything this will inspire him to want to beat Australia even more. This stuff is what Virat Kohli loves. He loves it when a player sledges him or somebody in the media fires him up. It gives him another reason to come out and perform,” he added.

Clarke, on the other hand, while expressing his apprehensions over the outcome of the recent incident said that the players should take the criticism in Australian press as a compliment.

If I was the Australian team I wouldn’t be happy at this stage. His (Kohli’s) fans are obviously going to come out and support him. There was probably no need for it at all,” Clarke said.

“I think you should take it as a compliment. It’s no different to how you walk out in the field against England and get booed. I used to take that as a compliment. I used to think there’s a reason they don’t like you because you are performing against them,” he added. “I’ve said this openly that Australian media at times has been disgraceful in regards to the way they have treated Virat Kohli.”