Former Australian captain Kim Hughes does not want the Australians to be all nice and friendly towards Virat Kohli in the upcoming Test series. Hughes wants the players to try to get under Kohli’s skin by throwing nicknames towards him when he comes out to bat.
Former Australian captain Kim Hughes does not want the Australians to be all nice and friendly towards Virat Kohli in the upcoming Test series. Hughes wants the players to try to get under Kohli’s skin by throwing nicknames towards him when he comes out to bat.
“You are not going to become pussycats. That’s not racially vilifying him (Kohli) at all or anything like that but just a good stare, or a couple of words, that’s part of the Australian way. Most blokes’ nicknames are usually when you have a stuff-up, not when you have a had a glorious moment. He is the type of player that you would feel as an opposition that you could get under his skin,” Hughes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“If he (Kohli) is not the best player in the world, he is in the final two or three ... I think he is the best player in the world. When you have 1.2 billion people in the world supporting you and expecting you to do well, there is a fair bit of pressure,” Hughes added.
Kohli has been in tremendous form this year with the bat and his record in Australia - 992 runs including 5 hundreds in 8 Tests is an indication of his domination in the country. He signaled his intent by scoring a brezzy half-century in the practice game against Cricket Australia XI and how the series pans out will in many ways be an extrapolation of Kohli’s performance with the bat.
“You are not going to become pussycats. That’s not racially vilifying him (Kohli) at all or anything like that but just a good stare, or a couple of words, that’s part of the Australian way. Most blokes’ nicknames are usually when you have a stuff-up, not when you have a had a glorious moment. He is the type of player that you would feel as an opposition that you could get under his skin,” Hughes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“If he (Kohli) is not the best player in the world, he is in the final two or three ... I think he is the best player in the world. When you have 1.2 billion people in the world supporting you and expecting you to do well, there is a fair bit of pressure,” Hughes added.
Kohli has been in tremendous form this year with the bat and his record in Australia - 992 runs including 5 hundreds in 8 Tests is an indication of his domination in the country. He signaled his intent by scoring a brezzy half-century in the practice game against Cricket Australia XI and how the series pans out will in many ways be an extrapolation of Kohli’s performance with the bat.