Australia is one of the toughest places to tour as a cricketing nation. One of the main reasons is the hostile Australian media. They try to get under the skin of the visiting team and target some of the star attractions. There has been a history of instances where the Australian media has taken a direct dig at players from the visiting team.
The Indian team has had a long history with the Aussie media and there have been quite a few controversies. Post 2000, from the time when Sourav Ganguly took over, the Indian team has never been shy of giving it back and have hardly backed away from sledging, whether it’s in the media or during the game.
Thus, the Australian media has never had a great relationship with the Indian cricket team. In recent times, they’ve taken a dig at the Indian team directly more than a couple of times. Here are three instances from the recent past when the Australian media targeted the Indian team.
#3 Terming Virat Kohli as the ‘Donald Trump of world sport’ (2017)
Virat Kohli’s relation with the Australian media has never been all rosy, especially when the two teams are engrossed in a battle. During the four-match Test series in India in February and March last year, Australia managed to beat India comprehensively in the first Test in Pune.
However, India came back from behind to beat Australia in the second Test in Bengaluru. Steve Smith’s ‘brain fade’ moment of seeking help from the dressing room for DRS didn’t sit well with the Kohli and he was pretty vocal about it. However, Kohli’s frankness in the press conference didn’t go down well with the Australian media.
Hence after the third Test which Australia drew and quite a few mocks took place during the game, the Daily Telegraph’s first line of the report read, “Virat Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport”.
The report claimed – “Test captains, under the rules of the game, are supposed to be the flag-bearers for upholding the spirit of the game, yet the ICC has allowed the Indian captain to destroy one of the foundations on which the game has been played for more than a century.”
They further went onto to term the Indian skipper as classless and egomaniac.
Source : Sportskeeda
