It hurts, when former cricketers focus on negativity says Kohli

“It obviously hurts when people who have played the game themselves make such comments. I am not saying all of them do it. Some of them understand the mindset of the players, having gone through similar situations in their careers. They lend you support, say the right thing and even help you with certain technicalities,” Kohli told BCCI.tv.

India had defeated South Africa 3-0 in the Freedom series to climb to the second position in the ICC Test rankings. However, India’s victory was surrounded by criticisms about the turning pitches, with former cricketers criticising the quality of the tracks.

“But some people like to focus on the negatives. It feels bad as an Indian cricketer. Growing up, you have looked up to these people, and when you hear such comments from them you lose a bit of respect for them. It would be more respectful of them to come up and speak to a player individually if they feel there is some flaw that needs to be corrected,” the Indian captain added.

Kohli also went on an attack against former cricketers and said, “someone who hasn’t played for the country has no right to comment on an international cricketer anyway. I don’t think that has any kind of logic. You cannot sit there and say how you would have done something differently when you have not been in that situation yourself and don’t have the mindset of a cricketer”.

The Indian captain also shared his feelings on his first home Test series victory as India’s Test captain. “It means the world to me. It is a very proud moment for me individually, and as a team, we are very proud of our achievement – winning two historic series back to back. The kind of effort that the boys have put in, in important situations, has been quite commendable,” he added.

However, Kohli expressed his disappointment at people focusing more on criticizing the pitches rather than appreciating the team's performances.

“It is a pity. The series happened in our country and our own people are looking for weaknesses and areas of criticism, and not speaking enough about the kind of good cricket we played. They have been talking about the pitches and how that has been a factor,” Kohli said.

The Indian captain also took a dig at the media for coming up with ‘bizarre’ criticisms.

“This has been a pattern over the years in India – players are criticised unnecessarily. When you lose, it’s fine, but here, even when we are winning, they find new ways to criticise the team. It is completely bizarre,” Kohli told BCCI.tv.