The world has been split by India captain Virat Kohli’s impassioned expression during the 4th Test versus England at the Oval. On the fifth day, as the visitors were closing in on victory, Kohli played the trumpet and pointed ten fingers at the Barmy Army. The event occurred when Jasprit Bumrah bowled Ollie Pope for a duck with an excellent display of delivery, resulting in England being dismissed for just 210 runs.So Michael vaughan reacted on this defeat of England.
Kohli, spotting a chance to poke fun at the furious Barmy Army, joined in on the act and made sure everyone knew who was in charge. The primary talking point was Kohli’s action, which sparked a debate among analysts, supporters, and critics over whether it was appropriate on India’s probability of winning.
A Top-class sportsman isn’t content with winning a game: Lawrence Booth
Lawrence Booth, a cricket journalist, sarcastically criticized Kohli by writing ‘loved it,’ but then clarified his position, stating, he didn’t “really love this” and found it “weird when a top-class sportsman isn’t content with winning a game, having totally outplayed the opposition, but wants to stick it to the fans too.”
Former England opening batsman, Nick Compton was also dissatisfied with what the Indian captain did and expressed his disappointment on Twitter, “Yea it doesn’t look good for him! No need.”
Yea it doesn’t look good for him! No need
— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) September 6, 2021
Former cricketer turned analyst, Michael Vaughan had a different view on the situation, praising Kohli’s character and calling him an outstanding leader of the sport.
“Virat Kohli is an incredible leader,” the 2005 Ashes-winning captain told Fox Sports’ The Back Page. “He’s just got this buzz of energy. He was taking the piss out of the Barmy Army with these trumpet signs. I love it. We don’t have enough characters in the game and mimicking the crowd, trying to get his own supporters going.”
Kohli gave a tactical masterclass on how to win a Test match: Vaughan
Kohli’s participation in the game through involving the supporters, according to Vaughan, is an interesting talent to really have, “When they came out after lunch, he was getting them going. It was like he was at the end of the long jump in the Olympics trying to get the crowd going”.
“He’s an amazing character, and yesterday he gave a tactical masterclass on how to win a Test match.”
According to the former England skipper, those who believe Kohli’s gesture is inappropriate for the game, don’t know what entertainment is.
“Those that complain are just boring,” the former top-order batsman said. “They don’t understand entertainment. We’re in the entertainment industry where we need people like Virat Kohli. We need characters.
“You go back to the 80s and 90s there was character (after character). We work with them; Shane Warne is one of the great characters, an absolute great guy, mad as a box of frogs. But you know that you’ve got a great character in the commentary box and on the field, and when you get someone like Virat Kohli, who stands out because we don’t have a lot of characters, there are not many teams that have characters who are willing to do what Virat does, and he’s very prickly, he doesn’t like criticism, he’s always answering back to anyone that criticizes him, again, I like that, it’s not a problem,” Vaughan added.
