Brad Hodge apologise to Virat Kohli and Indian fans

Former Australian batsman and the coach of the Gujarat Lions outfit in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Brad Hodge has apologised to Team India captain Virat Kohli and the Indian fans for his comments on the charismatic leader. Hodge alleged Kohli of missing the 4th and the decisive Test against Australia in Dharamsala for taking part in the upcoming IPL. It obviously didn’t go down well with the Indian public and the supporters lashed out at Hodge mercilessly.

“You’d hope as a sportsman that he’s [Kohli] seriously injured,” Hodge had told Fox Sports News a few days earlier. “I’m hopeful, as a Gujarat Lions coach, that when we play RCB in a couple of weeks that he’s not playing. Because if you miss one game of Test cricket and you’re fronting up the next week for RCB versus whoever, at Bangalore, Chinnaswamy Stadium,” he further added.

“You’d be pretty dirty if he didn’t front up to a Test match and try and win a valuable series against Australia. You would think that your captain would get out there and get amongst the fight and get in there.”

“It’s happened before. Not just Virat, but there’re many players that have come up to IPL time and … look, we know it’s a cash-rich tournament, there’s some money up for grabs. The claims made by Hodge was pretty baseless considering the fact that Kohli has been India’s premier batsman in the long home season and has always put his nation above anything else

Hodge who will be in the country for the next month a half for his coaching duties took to his twitter handle and wholeheartedly apologised for his comments and said it was all said in a light hearted manner and it was never meant to question the integrity of Kohli. He also admitted that the outrage from the country was justified and he is sincerely apologetic for his deed.

The apology from Hodge comes a day after Aussie captain Steve Smith also apologised to the media for letting his emotions get the better of him on many occasions. Well, their apologies might mellow down the Indian fans and supporters to an extent but it might well go down to the fact that these Aussies know they have to survive in the country for the next month and a half months and they want to regain their lost respect with their apologies.