Former Australian bowler says Kohli is the ‘worst behaved player’

Geoff Lawson, former Aussie quick, was very critical of Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s behavior. The Aussie media and other veterans have been overlooking the on-field behavior of their team and targeting Kohli. It all started with the Indian team turning up the heat in the Bengaluru Test and making a strong comeback to win it.

After the match, the Indian skipper said, Smith, sought unlawful advantage in the game by referring to the dressing room while making a decision to take a DRS. The Indian team has been giving it back to the visitors on the field indulging in sledging, giving sendoffs and other acts. This didn’t go down well with the Australians and they have been since then criticizing Kohli for his behaviour and giving him names.

Speaking on Fox Sports News, Lawson a veteran said that Kohli’s actions are those of the “worst behaved player” in the Indian set-up and said that as the leader he has to behave better than the way he did during the ongoing four-match Test series between India and Australia.

“Well Virat’s consistent. You’ve got to give him that, he’s consistent,” Lawson said, “As a leader and as a captain of a cricket team where you’ve got lots of responsibilities, you’ve got to show more gravitas and responsibility than this. These sorts of actions are those of your worst behaved player.”

He further opined that the 28-year old may have been treading a “very fine line with the umpires.” He said that send-offs go against the game’s code of conduct and Kohli was sharply caught on camera making use of some offensive language in the second Test match in Bengaluru.

“I’m surprised he didn’t get reported. But he must be treading a really fine line with the umpires and match referees because you’re not supposed to give players send-offs.”

Lawson did not shy away from further criticizing the Indian skipper. He went on to say that Kohli’s language “has been pretty much unacceptable. Such a captain then carries out post and pre match press conference and shows so little diplomacy.”

However, he also said that Kohli is a great player, probably one of the best in the business right now.

“But he’s a great, great player. He’s one of the best players going around, but you’ve got to behave as a captain better than that,” he concluded.

The India vs Australia Test series will reach its conclusion with the fourth and last Test in Dharamsala starting March 25.