Virat Kohli’s anger seems immature to me, says Kagiso Rabada
Kagiso Rabada has stated that Virat Kohli’s anger comes across as immature to him and even said that the batsman cannot take back what he gives. Both the players had a war of words during the Indian Premier League encounter between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 28.
Kagiso Rabada comes across as a calm personality whereas Virat Kohli is known to be very expressive on the field. Both the players have played against each other many times in international games but did have a war of words in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Delhi Capitals on April 28 and the South African pacer came to bowl the fourth over of the match when Parthiv Patel and Kohli were batting. Patel hit a boundary in the very first ball and the RCB skipper also followed it up with another one. Both the players had a heated exchanged and Rabada narrated his side of the story.
“I was just thinking about the game plan, really, but Virat, he hit me for a boundary and then he had a word. And then when you give it back to him, he gets angry. I don't get the guy. Maybe he does it because it gets him going, but that comes across as very immature for me. He is a phenomenal player but he can't take the abuse,” he said in an interview, reported The Cricket Monthly.
The Gauteng pacer continued his spell and dismissed Patel in the next over he bowled. He even managed to keep the top-ranked batsman quiet and reckoned that verbal fights don’t distract him.
“You have to think about what you are going to do, because the wicket was good. All it was was a verbal fight. Something like that will not distract me. If anything, it is just going to wake me up to hit my areas a lot more consistently,” explained the 24-year-old.
“But later that evening, on the bus back to the hotel, I asked myself: "That guy (Kohli) always seems to be angry on the field. Is he really angry?" Then I thought to myself what it would take for me to become really, really angry. That is going to happen very few and far times in between. And becoming angry like that - is that what gets him to play well? Do you know what I am saying? I can't psyche myself to be angry,” he added.
Kohli had amassed 1322 runs in 24 Test innings, with five centuries and half centuries each across 2018. Rabada had scalped 52 wickets in 20 innings at a phenomenal average of 20.07 during the same period. The India skipper trumped the Johannesburg born player to win the Test Player of the Year Award as well as ICC's Player of the Year award. Rabada had no qualms about it and remarked that the Indian captain deserved it.
“That is a huge honour. Kohli undoubtedly deserves it. He has been phenomenal. He has been a pillar for Indian cricket over the past five years. You can't fault the guy,” he signed off.