Ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson went down the memory lane and revisited his infamous rivalry with star India batter Virat Kohli. The first Test of the upcoming five-match series will kick-start from November 22 in Perth. Over the years, the Test series between India and Australia has always made headlines due to the intense rivalry between the teams. However, nothing could match the fiery face-offs between Kohli and Johnson when it came to personal duels.
The most talked about the face-off between the duo took place during the 2014 Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Things got heated up after Johnson, who trying to run out Kohli, ended up throwing the ball on his body, sparking an on-field argument.
“Most of our differences stemmed from the Boxing Day Test in 2014, when a ball I threw hit him on the body. I was legitimately trying to run him out but he didn’t like what I did. He made some comments in the media that night about having no respect for me as a player, which annoyed me. The goal from our point of view was generally to get Kohli riled up as soon as he came out to bat and take his focus away from his skills. Get him annoyed and get him playing a big shot early,” Johnson wrote in his column in The West Australian.
“In that Test match at the MCG we got him off guard early and had him playing at a ball he didn’t need to in frustration and unfortunately we dropped him on not many. He then focussed and harnessed his energy and piled on the runs – all 169 of them. When bowling to him, I can remember thinking we had to get him early or else we could be in trouble. If you didn’t get Kohli in the first 10 or so balls, he would often make you pay,” he added.
The Australian speedster went on to state that he enjoyed his rivalry with Kohli as both the players used the play the game in a “similar way.”
“I had a well-publicised personal rivalry with Kohli. We had many interactions on the field and I enjoyed it. While I didn’t know him off the field, on the field we probably played the game in a similar way – taking the game on and not backing down. Some don’t like that style of cricket and prefer there’s no chat with the opposition, but I enjoyed that part of the game,” he said.
“I would become frustrated during some of our battles, but I also enjoyed that he kept coming at me. It’s always a nice feeling to get one of the best out, and likewise, I’m sure he enjoyed taking me down and hitting me for a four or a six,” he added.
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