Kesrick Williams reveals Virat Kohli altercation details in tell-all 'Notebook' chat

05/11/2020

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West Indian pacer Kesrick Williams, who infamously got into a heated battle with Virat Kohli last year, has revealed that his intention was never to irk Kohli and that he did the ‘notebook’ celebration for a fan. Williams further added that Kohli was in his ears for the entirety of the T20 series.

From Jofra Archer versus Steve Smith to Pat Cummins versus Ben Stokes, 2019 was the year when individual rivalries peaked, but nothing quite matched the intriguing battle between Virat Kohli and Kesrick Williams in the Windies’ tour of India - a tour where neither men held back.

The rivalry between the duo extended back to 2017 when Williams pulled out the infamous ‘Notebook’ celebration for the first time after dismissing Kohli, but the Indian skipper made sure to let the West Indian know that no love was lost, as he mocked the pacer with a ‘notebook’ celebration of his own in the first T20I in Hyderabad, where the Delhite smacked an unbeaten 94. Speaking on Instagram Live, 30-year-old Williams recalled his account of the infamous altercation with Kohli which sent social media into a frenzy.

"Virat Kohli is the first person I did that notebook celebration on in Jamaica. When I did the notebook celebration, I did it because I liked it and I did it for my fan. "But Kohli didn't see it that way. After the game finished, I went to shake his hands, Kohli said good bowling but the celebration eeeh and he walked off,” Williams said in an Instagram chat, reported Cricbuzz.

"Last year in India, as soon as Mr Virat Kohli walked into bat, he walks straight at me and says, 'the notebook celebration thing is not going to work here tonight. I'm going to make sure it won't work'. Seriously! the episode is back from 2017. Every ball I bowled, he said something but I simply responded, 'mate, just bat and shut up. Really, you sound like a child.'

"But all he really heard was just, 'can you just bat and shut up', the part about child and whatever he didn't hear because I was walking back. That's all I said but he kept talking."

The 30-year-old revealed that Kohli had successfully gotten inside his head in the first T20I and also added that he felt bad after seeing his name pop up in the Newspapers for the wrong reasons.

"In the match, he beat me really bad, I got confused, because he got into my head honestly and I kept thinking its alright, he got into my head and that's why he beat me badly. Next day, I'm all over India newspapers, I'm being honest I felt bad.”

After the heated battle in the first T20I, Thiruvananthapuram was witness to round 2 of the Kohli-Williams fight and the West Indian revealed that he wanted to teach the Indian skipper a lesson in that particular game and prove to the world - and Kohli - his worth. Come back in style he did in the second T20I, sending Kohli back to the hut for just 19, conceding just 4 runs to the Indian skipper in 6 balls. The 30-year-old narrated the incident and wished that his battle with the Indian skipper, on that day, had lasted more than just 6 deliveries.

“But I like a challenge, I love a challenge and I love fame. So at that moment I told myself, Kohli you're the best player in the world but you've just met the most determined player in the world. Who doesn't give up, who doesn't say no and who always grind to come up on top. That's the player you've met. And when things get bad, that's when I shine.

"In the match, Kohli is getting ready to bat, sitting in the boundary. I was fielding at fine-leg, every time I look at him, he's shaking his head. In my mind, I kept thinking, I want you to bat, hurry up and come. What happened next was I tied him down for two overs and the only six that he could hit in the two overs was because I failed to execute the delivery. After hitting one six, Kohli celebrated while I thought one six and he reacted that way, I wish we had a full game."

Eventually, the battle was won by Kohli, as the Indian skipper scored an unbeaten 70 in the final T20I in Mumbai to guide India to a 2-1 series win.