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India will be more aggressive under Kohli: Johnson
Sydney: Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has said India will adopt a more aggressive approach and redefine the way the country plays cricket under new skipper Virat Kohli starting from the fourth and final Test, beginning Jan 6.
Kohli captained India in the first Test at Brisbane and called upon an attacking mindset to counter the Australians, renowned for their tactic of “mental disintegration” of the opponents through sledging.
He entered into a full-on confrontation with Australia’s leading pacer Mitchell Johnson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and the left-arm pacer said he expects more of the unabashed attitude from the young Indian.
“It could be quite interesting because they’re not known for that aggressive type of play,” Johnson was quoted as saying by aap.com Friday.
“But ever since I’ve seen him play cricket, I’ve always seen him pretty fiery. So he’ll definitely be an aggressive type of captain I think in the way he sets fields, and I think you’ll see a lot different to what Dhoni did.”
Johnson also noted that Kohli was a extremely competitive individual.
“He’s an interesting character. He is a fierce competitor and he really does like to get involved in it all.”
India’s previous captain Dhoni, in comparison, preferred a more composed approach and asked the teams to “tone down” the verbal barbs during his last press conference as India skipper.
But Johnson expects a change in mentality , irrespective of the opposition.
“It doesn’t matter who he plays against, he plays in your face and that is how he likes to play the game,” Johnson said.
The 33-year-old pacer said he expected the on-field chatter to continue at Sydney.
“It’s just harmless stuff, that’s out there. There’s a lot of talk out in the media at the moment as bad sledging and pretty full on stuff but it’s all pretty harmless,” the Queenslander said.
“Virat’s just been telling us how many runs he’s scored and we’ve just been saying we’re two nil up in the series so that’s pretty much it. It’s always been part of the game and always will be.”
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.