Australia haven’t been able to defeat India in a Test series since the 2014/2015 Border-Gavaskar series Down Under. One of the players who was a part of that Australian side was Mitchell Johnson. The pacer took many wickets for Australia throughout the series and massively helped them in defeating the Men in Blue.
Johnson recently credited his one-time rival Virat Kohli for transforming the Indian cricket with his combative attitude being one of his main attributes.
“When Virat Kohli first came on the scene, I remember hearing about him before I saw him. Many were saying he was the next Sachin Tendulkar, even though we all knew Sachin could never be replaced. I was fortunate enough to play against both Indian legends in all formats and while there are some similarities, they were also very different. One of Kohli’s attributes stood out early to me above all others – he was up for the fight!” Johnson wrote in his column for The West Australian.
“That kind of aggressive attitude was something we had rarely seen from an Indian player at that point. We were used to giving it but didn’t always get it back in return. While the occasional player from India may have been combative in moments, Kohli really made it a part of his game. He took his team with him as well so it’s not an understatement to say that Kohli changed the face of Indian cricket, taking a new generation of players and showing them how to play tough cricket,” Johnson added.
Johnson recalled the famous 2014/15 4-match Border-Gavaskar series where Kohli scored tons of runs despite India ending up on the losing side by 2-0. The former Australian pacer revealed that he had a personal rivalry with Kohli, but he enjoyed every minute of it.
“I remember hearing at the back end of Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag’s careers, a young Kohli would push his teammates to go harder at training, particularly with fielding drills. He would train like he played and pushed players around him to get better. Kohli was demanding but he is one of those players you want in your team because he has your back and that is important in team sports. I could sense a difference in the Indian team I played against in 2014/15, my last full Aussie summer before I retired from international cricket the following November,” Johnson said.
“They were competitive and confident they could beat us at home and while they didn’t do it that summer, won 2-0 by Australia over four Tests, that was the last time the Aussies have won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. I had a well-publicised personal rivalry with Kohli. We had many interactions on the field and I enjoyed it,” Johnson added.
