Team India skipper Virat Kohli and Australian captain Tim Paine were at loggerheads during the recently-concluded second Test of the four-match series at the Optus stadium in Perth. Former Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson, on Wednesday, slammed visiting captain Virat Kohli as “disrespectful” and “silly” for his on-field antics during the Perth Test.
“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’,” Johnson wrote in a column for Fox Sports.
“Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him.”
“Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly,” he added.
It was reported that Kohli belittled Paine as just “a stand-in captain”, although the The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) angrily denied he said it.