Kohli approves Ishant’s anger, Bedi calls it PATHETIC !

India fight back from a 0-1 deficit to break the 22-year-old jinx on Sri Lankan soil with an emphatic series win over the hosts

“Virat Kohli is a proactive captain – he does not let the game stagnate and makes things happen to upset the opposition. But it may not be an option against stronger teams in the longer run,” Former Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar told a leading TV channel from Colombo.

Ishant Sharma was fast and furious in the last two Tests, rattling the opposition with attitude. The Delhi speedster has already been found guilty of a code of conduct breach by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and might well be banned for the next Test, but skipper Kohli has backed him all the way .

“I was very happy with the incident when he was batting. It happened at the right time for us because we had to bowl and they made him angry. It couldn’t have happened at a better time for us. And the timing was absolutely perfect and everything fell in place for us as far as being aggressive is concerned. Look at the way he bowled in the second innings…he didn’t concede a boundary for 19 overs,” Kohli said after his team’s 117-run win.

Terming Ishant Sharma’s verbal duels with the Sri Lankans a “pathetic display of aggression”, former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi has said Test skipper Virat Kohli needs to control his own belligerence and be a role model for his players.

On a docile track at the P Sara Oval in the second Test, it was again big-hearted Ishant who had turned the match around for India. “He bowled his heart out, like he has always done when the Indian team has needed to defend scores in Tests. If you remember Lord’s or even in Australia, he bowled his heart out. I was very happy that he has an aggressive mindset. An angry fast bowler is a captain’s delight. I was really happy to see what happened and it switched some things on in the right ways,” Kohli added.

Bedi called it an unfortunate series of events.

“See they talked about aggression and then an Ishant gets banned for a match. Is this what you want on a cricket field? This is pathetic display of aggression. And remember this has nothing to do with Virat’s aggression, who is just giving statement after statement and trying to sell his aggression through words,” Bedi told media in India. an interview.

“Kohli did a very good job in the context of this series but he needs to control his aggro. There is always one camera which is focused on the captain, so he has to be an exceptionally good role model. You be aggressive with your bat, ball and fielding not with your mouth.

“These are very early days as far as his captaincy is concerned. There is so much more to be done. And there are far too many lacunas in the Indian team. We would be absolutely blind if we don’t see the shortcomings now,” Bedi said.