The cold war between the South African pacer Kagiso Rabada and Indian Captain Virat Kohli continues as the pacer in an interview with cricketmonthly.com initiated yet another war of words against the Indian skipper when he referred to his on-field behaviour as ‘immature’.
Right before their first clash in the on-going ICC World Cup mega tournament Rabada revealed his disapproval of the Indian captains’ attitude while on the field, he said Kohli loves to give it to the bowler but can’t handle it when he gets the same in return.
Rabada said, “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.”
Further adding he said, “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.”
Rabada stated that Virat’s behaviour confuses him at times and made the pacer ask himself that, “But later that evening, on the bus back to the hotel, I asked myself: ‘That guy 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.”
India will open their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa on 5 June at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.