Former West Indian cricketer Tino Best took to Twitter and stood up for Virat Kohli. Best had an issue with how Kohli was being depicted as almost a ‘villain’ by the English media. A big talking point during the India vs England rescheduled Test match at Edgbaston was the aggression shown by Kohli throughout, as he celebrated wickets with zeal and energy, and swapped words with Jonny Bairstow and Alex Lees. For some, this became slightly excessive, and India’s loss added fuel to that argument.
On Wednesday, George Dobbell, a renowened cricket reporter shared a photo on Twitter of the Indian team celebrating the wicket of Alex Lees in the fourth innings. It depicts Kohli running over the pitch, straying very close to the ‘danger area’, the strip down the middle of the pitch on which players are not meant to step on. Dobell captioned the image by writing “An interesting place to celebrate the wicket of Alex Lees.” Kohli and Lees had earlier been seen having a conversation when the teams were walking off for tea.
Kohli has received criticism for his over-energetic nature not only in this match, but over the course of his entire career. However, Tino Best claims this criticism was unfounded.
Best was at once admonishing the British media for being threatened by Kohli’s energy and aggression, and also complimenting Kohli for “challenging” those notions. However, some users responding to Best’s tweet took offence to the racial implications contained within it, including Dobell himself, who responded by saying “C’mon, Tino. You know me much better than that.”
Best admitted that he wasn’t aiming this at Dobell himself, writing “For sure George you’re a real one but the others always reaching, from the English commentators etc etc.” He continued: “Tell your mate that Virat isn’t a thug he’s a modern day Icon, simple.” Best makes clear his admiration for Kohli’s willingness to take the fight to the teams he plays against, seeing himself as being on equal footing with them as competitors, even if he isn’t viewed that way. “But then again he isn’t English so we would get these types of Articles (to) make them grovel.”
For all of Kohli’s aggression, it only seemed to charge man-in-form Bairstow to do better, as he scored two centuries in the Test match and guided England to a comfortable 7-wicket win despite a target of 378. Kohli was the captain for India in the first four matches of the series, which India led 2-1, but was replaced by Rohit Sharma after he had decided to quit. Ultimately, it was rookie captain Jasprit Bumrah who led the team following Sharma’s positive Covid-19 test.