Langer on Kohli’s celebration: The Australian coach was vocal about the Indian captain’s in-your-face on-field celebration.
Advertisement
Former Australia opening batsman and current coach Justin Langer opined that if the Australian players celebrated in the way India captain Virat Kohli did yesterday, people would term as the ‘worst blokes in the world’.
Speaking to Fox Sports during the rain-break on the third day of the first Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia at Adelaide, Langer highlighted the criticism which the Australian side receives for its on-field actions.
On being asked about Kohli celebrations, Langer was quoted, “You love seeing that passion in sport, don’t you?” said Langer. “Mind you, I think if we did that at the moment we’d be the worst blokes in the world, but it’s a fine line isn’t it? That’s the truth of it. But I love seeing the passion, I mean that’s great passion but, as I said, there’s a fine line isn’t there?”
On a day where Australia scored 191-7, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar threw accolades on the Indian team, adding that he hadn’t seen a more ‘defensive’ approach from the Australian team in the past.
Langer put in on the inexperience and youth of the current Australian side, saying that the current players are ‘finding their own skin’. “I saw the tweet from Sachin saying he’s never seen an Australian side bat so defensively,” Langer said to SEN.
“That said every time he’s played Australia he had Allan Border or David Boon, guys who have played 300 or 400 Tests between them. We’ve literally got kids when it comes to Test cricket playing. They’re just finding their own skin, they’re fighting their backsides off, not only to help us win the Test match, but to find out what Test cricket’s about,” he added.
Speaking to Fox Sports on the same, he further added, “After the day’s play I knew there’d be a lot of comments about, like Sachin’s comments, I knew that’s what they’d say. And if that starts affecting our players then that’s going to really hurt us so the key is to get as close to the mark as we can and regardless of whether it’s no more runs or go ahead of them it’s going to be key how we bowl in the second innings.”
Read some of the latest social media reactions on the match below:
Good day for India today. The bowlers were superb- Ashwin was fantastic and they have done a great job in ensuring that Australia have played defensively and lost wickets as well. India need to maintain the pressure and score big in 2nd innings #AusvInd
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) December 7, 2018
Excellent effort from the Indian bowlers today, not allowing Australia to score freely and picking up 7 wickets in the day. Now for India to carry the momentum and pick up the last 3 wickets quickly and bat better in the second innings. Tomorrow a crucial day #AusvInd
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 7, 2018
Just occurred to me that if Travis Head leaves a ball that hits his pads, it could be … Head shoulders arms, leg before wicket. #AUSvIND
— Brydon Coverdale (@brydoncoverdale) December 7, 2018
“I blame you guys… you set the benchmark too high.”@MichaelVaughan‘s analysis on the state of Australian cricket is fascinating viewing https://t.co/V0SQDBMvY4 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Av0rhcdpXO
— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) December 8, 2018