New Delhi: On one hand, Australian players have started engaging in the war of the worlds ahead of the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy, on the other hand, Steve Smith is lavishing praise on, perhaps, his biggest batting rival in world cricket.
Smith opened up on Virat Kohli’s approach on the cricket field, terming the Indian batting superstar as an Australian in his thoughts and actions.
“I believe Virat Kohli is Australian in thoughts and action. The way he gets into a battle, the way he gets into the challenge and tries to get on top of the opposition. He’s probably the most Australian of the Indian players, I’d say,” Smith said in a video posted by Star Sports on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite the heated rivalry between the two countries, both Smith and Virat share mutual respect. Kohli famously
Indian captain Virat Kohli came out in support of Smith and even apologised to the Aussie batter on behalf of the crowd after the former Australia captain was heckled and booed by the Oval crowd during the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Smith and his fellow compatriot David Warner were jeered by the fans on their return to international cricket after serving year-long bans for their respective roles during the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Kohli, though, was sympathetic towards the duo, especially Smith. He requested the crowd to stop booing the former Australian skipper and also asked them to applaud good cricket instead. He later walked towards Smith and shook hands.
In the video, Smith went on to reveal that the two players share messages often and expressed excitement to face Kohli in the high-octane series.
“We get on quite well, share messages every now and then and look, he’s a great guy and obviously a wonderful player. It’s going to be nice to come up against him again this summer,” said Smith.
India, Australia reignite intense rivalry
India and Australia will reignite their fierce rivalry at the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The two cricketing giants will face off in the five-match series at Perth, Adelaide (pink-ball game), Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, respectively.
India have come out on top in the previous two editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy held in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21 respectively.
Kohli has scored 8,846 runs with 29 tons in 113 Tests at a 49.16 average while Smith has amassed 9,685 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 56.97 with 32 centuries.
Steve Smith explains what makes Virat Kohli an Australian as India and Australia gear up to face off in a five-match Test series starting in November. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
