Virat Kohli: The new ‘Young Angry Man’ of Indian cricket

Virat Kohli has been the only silver lining in the otherwise disastrous show by the Indians in Australia. But the young Delhi batsman on Thursday was all good batting and bad language, says an article in The Times Of India. “Virat’s batting made for both comforting and unsettling viewing. Here was an aggressive, in-yourface knock in trying conditions, but what became the talking point at the end of the day was the 23-year-old and his ‘rage’ at reaching triple figures,” says the article.  Quoting batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, the paper writes it as “schoolkid” temperament. The paper quotes Sunil Gavaskar: “Swearing or doing something like that brings down the focus.”

However Virat himself feel that his maiden Test century in on Thursday was a fitting riposte to "drunken" Australian fans who have heckled him from the stands throughout the series. According to The Times Of India, Virat said in a press conference that in Sydney, they were after him because he hadn't scored any runs, and today they were (angry) because he got a hundred. “It hasn't changed only the reason has.  If they come here to enjoy a game of cricket, they should do that and not get drunk and abuse cricket players. It's not fair, if the players say anything they're fined and banned.  To give it back verbally and then score a hundred is even better," ," he told reporters.


Meanwhile, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has blasted the team for putting up an ordinary batting display on a lifeless track at the Adelaide Oval in the fourth and the final Test against Australia on Thursday.  According to an article in Hindustan Times, Ganguly can't believe that the Indian batsmen, barring Virat Kohli (116), could score on a track, which was the closest to the pitches in the subcontinent. "It just goes to show that if the confidence is down, even good pitches create problems. This was a perfect example of that,” Ganguly said.

According to a report in The Hindu, Ricky Ponting has been awarded country's highest civil honour along with a host of sportspersons of international repute. The 37-year-old former skipper, who struck a fluent double century against India on the second day of the fourth Test in Adelaide, has been appointed an officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the sport of cricket as a leading player, and to the community through the establishment of the Ponting Foundation.

Meanwhile, angry over using his face in a mobile phone application without permission, Ricky Ponting is mulling to sue an Indian software company, according to reports. "We weren't aware of it and we'll be issuing action against them straight away for the use of his intellectual property," Ponting's manager James Henderson was quoted as saying by the 'Herald Sun'.