There Is Respect For Virat Kohli In Australia: Michael Clarke

Contrary to the popular speculations, Michael Clarke has said Virat Kohli is respected in Australia and it is the media which has tarnished his image.

Kohli did not make too many friends during the 2011-12 tour of Australia when he infamously flashed the middle finger to a section of crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the second Test. During the 2014 tour, Kohli left one and all impressed with his exceptional scoring feats as he made a staggering four centuries and one fifty during the four-match series.

However, the love-hate relationship between Kohli and Australia hit an all-time due to several controversies that erupted during this year’s heated Border-Gavaskar series in India. The series of ugly events had begun with Kohli’s explosive press-conference after the Bengaluru Test during which Aussie skipper Steve Smith was caught red-handed seeking dressing room inputs on DRS and concluded with the India skipper stating that he no longer considered the players from Down Under his friends. Consequently, Kohli was consistently targetted by several former Australian players and especially media which sometime crossed crossed the limits in criticising the Indian skipper.

But despite all this, Clarke does not believe that Kohli does not have a good fan base in Australia and blamed the media for the image that has been created among the Indian fans.

“I disagree that Virat doesn’t have too many fans in Australia. I think Virat has a lot of Australian spirit in him,” said Clarke, who was in Pune to promote Tourism Australia. “To be honest, he plays the game really tough and is really competitive on the field, but he is a nice guy off the field. So when people get to know Virat, they realize that what they see on the field is just his competitive spirit. I can’t think of any Australian cricketer who wasn’t like that every time we walked out on the field. I certainly think there is respect for Virat in Australia.

“You probably are not going to read the positive stuff (about Virat) in the Australian media though. They all want to write a negative story. But I have a great relationship with him and I think he is respectful,” he added.

Clarke further expressed his delight over Cricket Australia and the players reaching an agreement after a prolonged pay dispute.

Recently, the BCCI had asked their commentary panel to sign an undertaking to avoid any conflict of interest interest. When asked about that, the World Cup-winning captain said:“I have no idea if that is the case (that there can be conflict while commentating). To me, the commentary is all about trying to take the viewers as close to the players as possible.

“When the batsman is batting, the viewer should feel like he is sitting beside the batsman and know what he is thinking or what the captain is thinking that time. That’s what I have always seen in the commentary and that’s what I try to do. Your job is to have your opinion and make a call on what you see, so for me, there will be no conflict,” he added.