“Felt a bit double standards” – Justin Langer on Virat Kohli

Wining the 2018-2019 Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Australian soil was a significant milestone in the career of Virat Kohli. As a result, he became the first Indian captain to win a test series against Australia in their home. 

2018 Australian Ball-tampering Scandal

This scandal infused a major controversy in the cricket world. The Australian skipper, Steve Smith and senior batsman David Warner indulged in a ball-tampering incident. The Australian Cricket board banned both the players from playing cricket for 1 year. This incident became a big lesson for the Australian Cricket team. So, the team decided to be on the best of their behaviors. 

India won the test series in Australia around this time only when their two-star batsmen, Steve Smith, and David Warner were absent from the team. 

Justin Langer takes a dig at Virat Kohli

Amazon Prime launched a new cricket documentary, “The Test”. It talks about the transition of the Australian Cricket Team from being aggressive to being calm and composed. The documentary also highlights how Virat Kohli tested Australia’s resolution to be on their best behavior. 

Kohli threw a lot of verbal barbs to Australian batsmen, which angered them to no end. After India’s first win in the test match by 31 runs, Kohli became more aggressive and boisterous. 

This behaviour of the Indian Captain triggered the new coach Justin Langer. Therefore, he privately addressed the team for the same. He called out the Indian team as double standards. 

“I remember that afternoon [feeling] like a punching bag. We can’t fight back because it felt like we had our hands behind our backs and we just had to take it,” Langer said in the documentary. “It just felt a bit double standards to me. Imagine if we behaved two out of ten (of) that.”

“Boys, to be honest, I’m pretty emotional tonight, eh? Because I just think, one; you’re all probably feeling the double standards, the way their captain is carrying on, we sort of have to be careful,” Langer had said further.

The continuous poking from the Indian side made the Australian captain lose his temper and indulge in a verbal fight with the Indian team. The banter between Tim Paine and Rishab Pant made headlines for quite some weeks.

Though Australia won the second Test at Perth by huge 156 runs, the series was bagged by Kohli and the company.

“The Test” is a sports doc by Amazon Prime which shows how the world’s best team was forced to reclaim their title and integrity.