Amitabh Bachchan and others defend Virat Kohli on Twitter; slam Australian media

What’s the story?

Cricket has officially taken a backseat during the ongoing India – Australia Test series. Quite often, it is the on-field banter between the two teams that grabs the headlines. This time around, there has been an incredible spillover onto the media with the Australian media, in particular, resorting to petty methods to attack India’s captain Virat Kohli.

After the conclusion of the drawn Test in Ranchi, where the focus was on Kohli’s shoulder injury, and both sets of players attacking each other, Australian media decided to liken India’s skipper to none other than Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America.

“Virat Kohli has become the Donald Trump of world sport. The Indian captain is a law unto himself with no one – not even the ICC or his own board – holding him accountable for his continual perpetuation of fake news. Just like President Trump, Kohli decided to blame the media as a means of trying to hide the egg smeared right across his face.” read an article in the Daily Telegraph.

One of India’s most recognizable faces decided to stand up those attacking Kohli with this post on Twitter –

T 2471 - Aussi media calls Virat, Donald Trump of sports !! ... thank you Aussi media for accepting that he is a winner and the PRESIDENT !! pic.twitter.com/ZOoNtuhtC2

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 21, 2017

The context

With a massive 25.6 million followers on the social media platform, the 74-year-old has more followers than Virat Kohli, the BCCI, Cricket.com.au and Steven Smith combined. The influence he yields on Twitter is unquestionable and Kohli could not have hoped for a better spokesperson.

The details

There is generally a fair amount of chatter on the field during India – Australia affairs. During the third Test in Ranchi, all the action surrounded Kohli’s shoulder injury. After having spent a fair chunk of the Australian innings off the field, the Indian skipper came in to bat at No. 4. When he was dismissed by Pat Cummins, he was given quite the send-off.

Not one to back down from a battle, Kohli had his revenge when David Warner was dismissed by celebrating wildly. The press conferences that followed the game were tense, but the most recent attack by the Australian media is bordering ludicrous.

Parallels from history

Kohli has been a popular figure over the past couple of weeks in Australia. Earlier on in the series, Fox Sports Australia ran a contest inviting fans to vote for their ‘Vettel of the week’ (A term coined after Seb Vettel stole a pole position from Australian Mark Webber at the Australian GP a few years ago; a sports villain) –

Author’s take

Amitabh Bachchan is an avid cricket fan and it’s fabulous to see him standing up for India’s skipper on a public platform. One could question the choice of image that accompanied the tweet though.

Reactions

@SrBachchan Hehehe...You always find the Awesomest thing to twtLove YOU

— Ratna EF (@StLouisgirl123) March 21, 2017

@SrBachchan Yes sir Indeed. Their players are gone out of words and they are getting help from media to do so. But @imVkohli is so strong. #IndvAus

— Jay desai (@Jaydesaib) March 22, 2017

@SrBachchan Yes Sir You are right.He is the champion player and his aggressive make them jealous of him.#president @imVkohli @vikrantgupta73

— Naveen Surana (@Surana9Naveen) March 22, 2017