Former Australian Captain, Steve Waugh has criticized Virat Kohli for not showing ‘enough respect’ to Adam Zampa after the wrist spinner accounted for the India skipper in the first ODI. Kohli could score just 16 before Zampa made him hit one straight back at him. The Men in Blue went on to lose the series-opener by ten wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
India came up with a horror display with both bat and ball as Australia thoroughly outplayed them in all departments. Bowling first, the visitors bowled out India for just 255 despite Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul adding 121 runs for the second wicket. Dhawan was the top-scorer in the dismal batting show, scoring 74.
In reply, Australia chased down the total in just 38 overs without losing any wicket. Openers David Warner and Aaron Finch scored century each to guide their team to the biggest ODI win over India in terms of wickets. India also suffered a ten-wicket loss in ODIs for the first time at home since 2005.
One of the talking points from the game was the duel between Virat Kohli and Adam Zampa as the latter dominated it once again. Zampa has so far bowled a total of 97 balls to Kohli in ODIs, giving away 126 runs but also getting him out 4 times. He has dismissed Kohli twice in T20Is. During the game, Steve Waugh, who was on commentary for Fox Cricket, pinned the blame on Kohli for not “showing Zampa enough respect”.
“I just don’t think he’s showing Zampa enough respect and he paid the price,” said Steve Waugh.
Also Read: Is Virat Kohli Adam Zampa’s Bunny? Stats Suggest So
Virat Kohli praised Zampa before the game:
Though Steve Waugh said that Kohli did not respect Zampa, Kohli’s statements before the game were rather contrasting. He was full of praise for the wrist spinner.
“He was probably one bowler, who had more belief than others (on the 2019 tour) I felt,” Kohli had said before the ODI series. “Throughout the game, even when he was hit for boundaries, he kept coming at the batsmen and try and get them out, which I think is important for a wrist-spinner. And his mindset was a stand out for them in the last series.”
