Indian cricket team is preparing for the highly anticipated Test series vs Australia and the light is focused on one man – Virat Kohli. Captain of the Indian Test team is Rohit Sharma; yet Virat Kohli’s grip on top-pedestal attention comes as an undeniable impact on Australian newspapers.
On Tuesday morning, Kohli’s picture was clicked on the front pages of leading Australian media houses, and everyone drooled over his stature in world cricket.
Kohli And Jaiswal Hog All The headlines
While Kohli could still be the highlight of the tour, there is a little jewel that is making waves in Australia with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the new gamechanger. The young opener has been doing enough for applause and has started catching fans’ imagination down under. In some of the Australian dailies, his name appeared alongside Kohli’s, with great emphasis through headlines that asked if this was what the new king in cricket looked like. Some called him the “Navam Raja,” or “The New King.”
Front pages carry, besides English headlines, Hindi ones too, such as “Yugon ki ladai, or the fight for the Ages. Add that cultural flavor, with the deep love binding India and Australia together because of the two cricketing giants set to clash on the field.
A lot of @imVkohli in the Australian papers this morning as is the norm whenever India are in town but never expected to see Hindi and Punjabi appearing in the Adelaide Advertiser. Tells you about the magnitude of the #AusvInd series for Australia & cricket in this country pic.twitter.com/I5B2ogPvEJ
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) November 12, 2024
The Kohli-Australia Rivalry
Virat Kohli’s relationship with Australia has always been one of admiration mixed in with fierce competition. His matches on Australian soil have made him popular enough among the audience, and this mutual respect has also traveled to cricketing circles in Australia.
Meanwhile, Kohli’s place in the team was never commotion-free, so when ex-Australian captain Ricky Ponting had recently expressed doubts over Kohli’s position in the Indian team, pointing out a lack of hundreds in recent seasons, it was pretty damaging. According to Ponting, if it was any other batsman with such a dry spell, he would probably not have made it in the side.
Gambhir Sheds Light On Kohli
After Ponting’s remarks, the head coach of Indian cricket team Gautam Gambhir has finally come up in defense of Kohli. Gambhir termed Ponting’s statement as ‘irrelevant’ and stated that Kohli and Rohit Sharma play a great role in India’s success. Before flying off to Australia speaking with the media, he said, “passion and hunger of such players is still unbeaten”.
“Not at all … Ricky Ponting should think about Australian cricket, what concerns he has for Indian cricket? Virat and Rohit are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot,” Gambhir said during the press conference.
He further added, “They still work really hard. They are still passionate. They still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people as well in that dressing room.
Kohli surely will be under constant pressure as India is about to play a five-match Test series against Australia; nevertheless, his unrelenting dedication to the game and success till now cannot be ignored. The coach and teammates of Kohli will be sure to help him keep on dominating the Australian grounds by leaving an imperishable mark in such a high-stakes series. This will be the sternest test of cricketing skills.
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