Australia vs India: Mitchell Johnson attracts Indian fans' ire for his comments on Virat Kohli

Despite not playing in the ongoing Test series between Australia and India, Mitchell Johnson has been in the news more. He has been tweeting and commenting about the series especially targetting the Indian captain Virat Kohli. Things were heated up during the Perth Test between Kohli and his counterpart Tim Paine and in the end, the latter had the upper hand winning the match. Kohli, disappointed with the defeat, didn’t even look towards Paine during the customary handshakes after the game and Johnson had a jibe once again at him.

The former Australian cricketer felt that it was disrespectful of the Indian skipper not having an eye-contact with Paine after the match. He also went on to say that Kohli looked silly having provoked the banter and ended up losing the game.

“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’. Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful. Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly,” he wrote in his column for Fox Sports.

Old war between Johnson and Kohli

This is not the first time that Mitchell Johnson has got stuck into Virat Kohli. The two were involved in a heated exchange of words during the 2014 tour and the latter had responded him with the bat fittingly. Johnson, during the second innings, threw the ball at Kohli unnecessarily which irked the batsman and was continuously in his ears since then.

Four years later, even when he is not playing, Johnson is trying his best to criticise the 30-year-old and surely, the fans are not liking it at all. They lashed out at him for his comments and reminded him the way Kohli had smashed his bowling four years ago.

Here are the tweets:

Mitchell Johnson is still not over the fact that he got absolutely man handled by a bloke single handedly at home just one year after he was dismantling the poms.
Still remember him coming upto bowl with all his efforts only to see ball getting smashed all over the park by kohli

— Akki (@CrickPotato1) December 18, 2018

I don’t think Aussies should talk about respect. There is much of that yet to be earned. Also not to forget that what Kohli is doing now is something the Aussies have been doing for years. Maybe kohli’s sledging is in bad taste but it’s no different from what the Aussies do

— Nishant Verghese (@nishantjv) December 18, 2018

@MitchJohnson398 and Respect. Mother of Irony😂

— Aniket (@imAniketPshetty) December 18, 2018

Absolutely right. MJ just forgot how silly he used to be on the field.. Fellas think they own 'sledging', no one else is allowed to do it. funny..

— Tarunjit Singh (@TarunjitSingh8) December 20, 2018

Many Indians believe in being humble/softspoken. And for years white nations AU/EN exploited this, on and off the field.
The tide has now turned. IND is the 'big dog' of cricket, and many of us Indians – like Kohli – simply aren't willing to turn the other cheek.
Get used to it !

— Daraius Ardeshir (@DEArdeshir) December 18, 2018

Mitchell johnson can bark whatever he wants I don’t think anyone take him serious!

— 👑 Off Happiness 🇮🇳 (@madmax29580547) December 18, 2018

When Kohli hit 3 consecutive boundaries off those 3 bouncers you could see the helplessness in Johnson’s eyes. Then Kohli hit him over his head for a boundary and blew him kisses. Kohli then trashed him in the press conference. Johnson never got over that humiliation.

— Fair Dinkum Mate (@FairDinkumMate1) December 18, 2018

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂what can be more hilarious than an australian cricketer (especially mj ) preaching about dignity and sportsmanship ? ANS: NONE

— sri goutham (@gr3101997) December 18, 2018

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