The pictures of the Friday edition of the Perth based newspaper The West Australia have gone viral on the Internet. The sports page of the daily has highlighted the former Indian captain with a clown nose and carried the headline ‘Clown Kohli’.
This has not gone down well with Gavaskar and Shastri.
“You expect that in a home country…in many ways, it’s a little bit of desperation. You know, you are three matches into the series, the scoreline is 1–1, and you have still not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. You know, you’ve got to win at Melbourne. So, all these things creep in. I’ve been to Australia many, many times. It’s like the whole country comes behind the team—not just the crowds, but the media as well. I am not surprised because I see that sense of desperation. If Australia had already been 3–0 or 2–0 up, the headlines might have been different” Shastri told broadcasters Star Sports.
Gavaskar concurred with Shastri.
“Australian media acts like the team’s support staff. It is their 12th man, 13th man and 14th man.” an angry Gavaskar added.
The West Australia’s coverage of Kohli has come a after the batting great’s physical altercation with Sam Konstas.
The veteran batter and Australian youngster were on involved in a physical confrontation because of which the Indian superstar was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed a demerit point even though it was played down as an accidental bump by the 19-year-old debutant.
The momentary clash between the two cricketers happened after the 10th over of the Australian innings on the opening day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when the players were crossing over. Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch in the face off that was initiated by the travelling star.
First Published: Dec 27, 2024 2:24 PM IST
