Former India pacer S. Sreesanth recently opened up about Virat Kohli’s aggressive on-field style, while also reflecting on some of his own career experiences. The ex-cricketer, who is now a commentator, believes Kohli’s intensity is an essential part of his success and cannot be compromised.
Kohli’s passion fuels his success
Sreesanth, who shared the dressing room with Kohli during India’s 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, stressed that the former captain’s temperament defines his game. He drew a fine line between aggression and passion, suggesting Kohli’s energy is often misunderstood.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒔 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝑵𝒐. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅,” 𝑺𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒆𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍. “𝑰𝒇 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓.”
While Kohli’s career soared after 2011—making his Test debut against West Indies and establishing himself as a modern-day great—Sreesanth’s own journey took a different turn, with his final Test appearance coming the same year against England.
Sreesanth revisits the Harbhajan slap incident
The Kerala-born cricketer also revisited the infamous 2008 IPL incident, when Harbhajan Singh slapped him after a match in Mohali. He revealed how the controversy even affected his family years later.
“𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓, ‘𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒋𝒊 𝒑𝒂, 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆,’ 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, ‘𝑵𝒐, 𝒏𝒐, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒊.’ 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚,” 𝑺𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅. “𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑩𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒋𝒊 𝒑𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚.”
Despite the ugly episode, Sreesanth acknowledged the contributions both he and Harbhajan made to Indian cricket, including the 2011 World Cup victory. While his international career ended shortly after that triumph, Sreesanth did make brief returns in domestic cricket, though it wasn’t enough to secure an IPL contract or a comeback to the national side.
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