‘It annoyed me when they said don’t sledge Virat Kohli…’: Ex-AUS captain Tim Paine loved to distract India legend.

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India’s Virat Kohli, centre, looks to the umpire after he and opposing captain, Australia’s Tim Paine came face to face in Perth.(AP)

Paine, who was one of Kohli’s old Australian nemesis at one stage, suggested that there are equal chances of the Indian star scoring runs irrespective of whether he gets sledged or not.

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“People used to say, don’t sledge Virat. If you don’t sledge Virat… most of the time still get runs, so it doesn’t really matter whether you’re talking to him or not. I wouldn’t try too much to fire up Virat, but I would try and distract him if I could because if you can get a bit of a distraction, he might play a bad shot or lose his concentration. But it used to annoy me when people say, oh, don’t sledge him, because people don’t get better because someone’s talking to them,” Paine told CricTracker.

 

Kohli led India to their first-ever Test series win over Australia Down Under during the 2018-19 tour, where Paine was leading the home team.

Kohli first toured Australia in 2011-12 when he faced the heat from the fans while fielding. He failed to control his temper and stuck out his middle finger at his hecklers on the second day of the Sydney Test. He replied to the home team and fans with a century in the Adelaide Test and roared loudly in front of them while celebrating it.

He was also sledged by some of the Australian bowlers, including Mitchell Johnson, on the 2015-2016 tour, and it also backfired for the hosts only, as Kohli smashed 692 runs in the five-match series.

The former India captain will resume his rivalry with the Australian team later this year in the Border-Gavaskar trophy, which will be held Down Under this time.