Cheteshwar Pujara and wife Puja at the Dharamsala airport on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
Dharamsala: Cheteshwar Pujara yesterday lamented the Australian media’s comparison of Virat Kohli with Donald Trump’s attitude towards scribes, saying tasteless comments are dominating headlines instead of cricketing achievements.
Pujara’s epic double ton in the third Test, Smith’s battle of attrition in Pune and Ranchi, Lyon and Ashwin’s magical spells in Bangalore have all been put in the backburner thanks to the bad blood that has spilled over with equal contribution from all stakeholders. “I think it’s really sad to hear such comments. We fully support Virat and he is one of the great ambassadors of this game. I think the focus has shifted somewhere else, which shouldn’t have happened. We are very much focussed on the game. He is a great leader and so we are fully supporting him. We are looking forward to the next game rather than worrying about anything else,” said Pujara, who along with KL Rahul has been India’s most consistent batsman in the series.
The current series has dominated air space as much off the field as it has been for the combative cricket that has been played on it. It started with Kohli loosely accusing opposite number Steven Smith of cheating during a DRS call, which the Aussie skipper had termed ‘brain fade’. From being called ‘leader of snakes’ to ‘the Donald Trump of cricket’ by the visiting media, Kohli has been facing all kinds of allegations at a time when he has also not been amongst runs.
Not to be left behind was Cricket Australia (CA) CEO James Sutherland, who took a sly dig at the Indian captain, stating that perhaps he doesn’t know the spelling of sorry.
The continuous attack on Kohli prompted former Australian skipper Michael Clarke to comment on record that “two or three journalists (from Australia) are trying to tarnish Virat’s image which he should not be bothered about”.
Time to put an end to all issues: Gilly
Melbourne: Former Australian skipper Adam Gilchrist has called Virat Kohli a great leader and said it is time for both the countries to put an end to the ‘cheatgate’ episode before it turns into infamous 2008 ‘monkeygate’ saga.
“Kohli is a great leader. He drags his team and his nation with him,” Gilchirst said during a promotional event. “I m fearful Virat Kohli is due for a lot of runs (in Dharamsala). It has been an exceptional series. (But) both the teams may sit back in the end and think they may have said somethings differently. But we can all move on and it shouldn’t escalate to the 2008 scenario that dragged on and on,” he said.
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