Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli has been a topic of debate on social media ever since veteran Indian spinner Amit Mishra triggered a row with his comments in a podcast. From suggesting that Kohli has changed because of ‘fame and power’, to accusing him of abusing his Lucknow Super Giants teammates during an IPL 2023 game, Mishra launched a direct attack at Kohli during his chat on a YouTube channel. Kohli’s fans, in defence, have come out all guns blazing, highlighting the examples of a few other former teammates of Virat, like Ishant Sharma, with whom he still has an excellent camaraderie.
Amid this debate on the internet, an old video has resurfaced on social media from India’s tour of Australia in 2014. In the series, Virat had become a constant target for the Australians, especially Mitchell Johnson, with whom he had many verbal battles on the field.
When Kohli was asked about his verbal duels in the press conference, especially from the ‘respect’ perspective, he said he has come out to play cricket and not earn people’s respect.
“I am out here to play cricket, not to earn anyone’s respect. As long as I’m scoring runs I’m happy with it. If you like it, good,” he said.
He further added “I don’t really care what they think as far as respecting me or me respecting them. I’ve got a nice friendship with a few of them. But someone who says anything that comes to his mouth, I don’t respect.”
I’m here to play cricket , I’m not here to earn anyone’s respect – Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/wMd2lwiFS9
— (@Kohlifiedd18) July 16, 2024
During a chat with Shubhankar Mishra on YouTube show ‘Unplugged’, Amit Mishra had said: “I have seen Virat change a lot. We had almost stopped talking. When you get fame and power, they think people are reaching out to them for a purpose. I was never one of those. I have known Cheeku since the time he was 14, when he used to eat Samosas, when he needed Pizza every night. But there is a huge difference in the Cheeku I knew and Virat Kohli the captain. Whenever he meets me, he is very respectful, but it’s obviously not the same anymore.”
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