Virat Kohli has been receiving a lot of criticism for his on-field antics during the tense second Test in Perth. But former Australia captain Allan Border isn’t among those who believes Kohli should have exercised some restraint.
Border has defended Kohli, saying the game needs more "characters" who show "passion," reported AFP.
"I haven't seen anyone sort of carry on so much as a captain when his side takes a wicket," he said in a Fox Sports podcast on Thursday.
"It's really over the top but it's good in a way. You can see some passion about what he's trying to do. There's not many characters in our game at the moment," Border added.
"The professional era has sort of beaten that out to a certain degree. It's good to see guys with that passion, drive and a bit of character."
Kohli and his counterpart Tim Paine exchanged barbs, at one point prompting intervention from the umpire, during the game that Australia won by 146 runs on Tuesday.
It was reported that Kohli belittled Paine as just “a stand-in captain.”
Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson was among the many who believed Kohli's antics were unnecessary.
“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports.
“Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful.
“Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly,” he added.
However, both Kohli and Paine played down their on-field sledging, with the Indian captain calling it simple banter that was part of Test cricket. “As long as there is no swearing the line doesn’t get crossed. And no personal attacks,” he said.
