This coming from a country that has produced saints like Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Ian Healy, to name a few.
Australian media hit another low on Tuesday when it distastefully compared India captain Virat Kohli to US president Donald Trump. "Virat Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport. The Indian captain is a law unto himself with no one – not even the ICC or his own board – holding him accountable for his continual perpetuation of fake news," were Aussie journalist Ben Horne's desperate words in The Daily Telegraph.
"Just like President Trump, Kohli decided to blame the media as a means of trying to hide the egg smeared right across his face. The fact Kohli has not been sanctioned for calling the Australians systematic cheats or his latest unfounded attack on Smith shows that he is completely untouchable. Soft cricketing administrators have given rise to a bat-wielding Trump," the article went on.
This is the second personal attack on Kohli by the Australian media - a couple of weeks ago, Fox Sports Australia ran a poll in which it pitted Kohli against animals.
This pathetic tirade against the star Indian batsman comes days after he suggested that the visiting players dragged Indian team physio Patrick Farhart's name into the on-going acrimony between the two teams. Farhart, of course, has a vast experience of working in Australia. He was the head physiotherapist for New South Wales from 1990 to 2009.
"They (four-five of them) started taking Patrick's name. I don't know why. He's our physio. His job is to treat me. I don't find the reason behind it. I could not understand. You must ask why they have started taking his name," said Kohli at the end of the third Test. Farhart was responsible for treating Kohli's shoulder injury and making sure he got back on the field in Ranchi.
Rubbishing Kohli's claims, his counterpart Steve Smith had responded by saying, "It was a bit disappointing. I didn't actually do anything. Virat was having a go at me saying I was disrespecting Patrick Farhart. I was probably the exact opposite. I think he probably did a pretty terrific job to be able to get Virat back on the field after that shoulder injury. He's a terrific physio and he obviously does a great job for them."
Let's hold on a second. So Kohli claims that four-five of his opponents took Farhart's name out in the middle (probably when Kohli was batting). Smith doesn't deny this, but claims that what his players did was the exact opposite of what Kohli was saying. He means to say that they took Farhart's name but only had something wonderful to say about him.
So imagine this - Kohli walks out to bat after recovering from an injury, and the Aussies have something nice to say about the physio who treated him. Smith wants us to believe that his players weren't trying to get under the skin of their enemy number one and that Farhart's name wasn't taken in bad taste.
Sure, this coming from a country that has produced saints like Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Ian Healy, to name a few.
"Like former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, Kohli relies on a flagrant disrespect of his opponents and the game to fuel himself and his team," rambled on the The Daily Telegraph. An incredibly rich statement for a country that has given the game it's most shameful moments. From Ponting abusing Javagal Srinath when the Indian pacer was making sure the former wasn't hurt by his bouncer, to McGrath asking Ramnaresh Sarwan what Brian Lara's c**k tastes like, the "Australian way" of playing the game has pretty much been the worst.
With the current series poised for a delectable finale in Dharamshala, let's hope the Australian media can stop obsessing over Kohli, snap out of its delusion, and focus on the game.
Bollywood superstar Amithabh Bachchan offered the right balm to soothe the Australians' deep wound. "Aussi media calls Virat, Donald Trump of sports !! ... thank you Aussi media for accepting that he is a winner and the PRESIDENT," said the senior actor on Twitter.
Here's Bachchan's tweet:
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 "Dharamshala, Cricket, Web Exclusive, India, Australia, India v/s Australia, virat kohli, donald trump, steve smith, glenn mcgrat")
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