India-Australia cricket duels in the recent past have been marked by some bad blood between the two sides with Virat Kohli often in the thick of it all.
But the Indian captain, ahead of the team’s departure to Australia on Thursday, said he doesn’t see the need to engage in on-field arguments anymore, especially if it’s not being initiated by the opponents.
Australian cricket has been embroiled in controversies ever since the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year and there has been plenty of talk around the team’s culture and the sledging that had become part and parcel of their game.
(Read: A story of two Australia vs India promos: While Sony gets aggressive, Fox thinks Kohli is India)
When questioned whether that would influence how India approach this series, Kohli said he did not find the need to engage in these duels as long as he and his team are not provoked.
“When it comes to getting engaged in an argument on the field, in a ‘fight’ – as some people want to call it – I’ve been completely fine with playing without any altercation,” Kohli said. “I am happy in my space now. On a personal level I don’t find the need to go and look for these things anymore. I have enough belief in my ability that I can play without having a reason to pump myself up.”
During India’s tour of Australia in 2011-’12, Kohli was caught on cameras flipping the bird towards the crowd after allegedly being abused. Kohli said captaincy has changed how he approaches the game and he doesn’t feel the need to feed off such incidents.
“Those were very immature things I used to feed on in the early days of my career, so that I can get pumped up and keep my focus precise,” he said. “Now that I am the captain of the team you literally have no room to think about anything other than what the team wants all the time, you don’t find the need of these things at all.”
The Indian broadcaster’s promo for the series focussed on how the India-Australia duels witness the equivalent of the fights we see in street cricket in India. Kohli, however, said his team would not look to initiate any of that.
“We were always the ones who gave it back,” he said. “We never started anything. As long as it doesn’t start, we don’t have a problem focussing on our game, doing what we need to. They want to play a certain way, we’ll reciprocate in that way, that’s how the game of cricket goes. Our main focus would be to remain competitive and not let our energies drop.”