Kohli on O’Keeffe’s comments: “Our first-class cricket is amazing”

Kohli on O’Keeffe’s comments: The Indian captain lauded India’s domestic circuit saying that it is the reason behind Melbourne victory.

Former Australia cricketer and current commentator Kerry O’Keeffe’s comments regarding India’s domestic setup on Boxing Day were still doing on the rounds in India that he came up racist taunts against the names of Indian cricketers in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja.

From the Indian media to the Indian fans, each one of them criticized O’Keeffe for his naive and prejudiced statements. The fact that he passed them on air and other his co-commentators laughing at the same didn’t go well with the Indians.

ALSO READ: Ravi Shastri slams Kerry O’Keeffe for his ‘Canteen Staff’ comment.

After coping up with plentiful criticism, O’Keeffe has come up with an open letter for Indian players and fans. Published on Fox Sports’s official website, the letter starts with, “I have been devastated by the reaction to my on-air comments on Fox Cricket during the recently completed Third Test between Australia and India. I am coming to terms with how negatively those words have been interpreted.”

Citing his ‘quirky’ style as a commentator, O’Keeffe said that he usually aims to lighten up some serious analysis. It was an attempt to do the same, which saw his tongue in cheek comments were taken in the wrong way.

ALSO READ: Virat Kohli discloses the reason behind not enforcing the follow on in Melbourne Test.

He added that he was certainly not disrespecting Indian cricket and that he has the greatest admiration [for India] as a cricketing nation. “I respect India, its cricketers and its supporters for their deep love of the game and it hurts me to think a couple of misplaced attempts at humour might compromise our mutual joy in all things cricket,” he added.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, India captain Virat Kohli talked about the same albeit in an different perspective altogether.

“Our first-class cricket is amazing, which is why we won. Credit must go to first-class set-up in India, which challenges our fast bowlers in India, and that helps them abroad,” Kohli said.

Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on the match below: