Aussie media tears into `egomaniac` Virat Kohli

Johannesburg [South Africa], Mar.29 (ANI): The Australian media continued their nasty tirade against Virat Kohli branding the Indian skipper as "classless" and "childish", despite the Steve Smith-led side slumping to a defeat in Dharamsala and giving up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The criticism came following Kohli's provocative comments at the end of a hard-fought four-match Test series, which the home side went on to win by 2-1. Prior to the opening Test at Pune, Kohli had said that regardless of what is said and done in the heat of moment is invariably forgotten when the teams vacate the combat zone, Sport24 reported. However, after what all happened between and during Tests, the Indian captain had declared those friendships irretrievably broken, and the relationship and trust he thought he had with the Australian players has been tarnished. "No, it has changed. I thought that was the case, but it has changed for sure. As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I've been proven wrong. The thing I said before the first Test, that has certainly changed and you won't hear me say that ever again," Kohli had said in a post-match media conference following his side's eight-wicket win in Dharamsala. Labelling Kohli an `egomaniac`, a headline in Sydney's Daily Telegraph read, "Virat Kohli had to shake hands and move on after series win but he acted like a child." "Beergate: Kohli's latest classless act", another headline screamed. On the other hand, Herald Sun journalist Russell Gould said that Kohli should have apologised for his behaviour just as his Australian counterpart Steve Smith, who issued apology for calling Murali Vijay a "cheat" after he claimed a catch when the ball had touched the ground. "All Virat Kohli had to do was say sorry. Steve Smith did," wrote Gould. Earlier, Australia captain Smith, ahead of the start of fourth Test, had said that the team would be in fine hands if led by stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane. He further went on to say to that the Mumbai batsman was "calmer, chilled out and doesn't get too emotional". Meanwhile, Kohli's shoulder injury was mocked by Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell during the third Test in Ranchi, while skipper Steve Smith had also accused the Indian skipper of telling lies after the latter had said his Australian counterpart had, more than once, sought help from the dressing room for DRS. A major section of the Australian media has repeatedly been attacking Kohli after that incident, even calling him the "Donald Trump of the sporting world". Earlier, Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland had also taken a cheeky dig at Kohli and said that he is not sure whether the Indian skipper knows how to spell the word "sorry".(ANI)