India’s Virat Kohli is a global superstar. Wherever he goes, the public follows. In any country Kohli visits, he is embraced by millions, and when it’s Australia, the craze rises to another level. The moment Kohli landed on Australian shores for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he was everywhere – from the billboards to the newspaper front pages. The Australian media even went desi for him, printing texts in Hindi. Kohli, in response, lived up to the euphoria, scoring a scintillating century in the second innings as India thrashed Australia to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.
The stories of Kohli’s Perth epic are spreading like wildfire, reaching all the way to the Prime Minister’s office in Canberra. As the Indian team landed in the capital to play a three-day pink-ball Day-Night Test, the players met Anthony Albanese. However, as captain Rohit Sharma introduced his players one by one, starting with Jasprit Bumrah, Albanese had a special chat with Kohli, overshadowing the rest of the players present, including Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Albanese started off with Bumrah, complimenting him for his unique action. “Your style is very different from everyone. Great effort,” he said before the India pacer replied with a ‘Thank you’. Next in line was Kohli, and here is how their gem of a conversation flowed.
PM Albanese: “Good time in Perth. Bloody hell, as if we weren’t suffering enough at that point, that was just…”
Virat Kohli: “We’ve always got to add our own spice to it.”
PM Albanese: “Well… Indian, you know.”
Watch the clip below:
The short clip then ended with Albanese shaking hands with Jadeja and Ashwin. The PM met members of both the teams – the Prime Minister’s XI being the other two days ahead of the warm-up game at the Manuka Oval. Albanese shared the special occasion on his Instagram handle with the caption: “Big challenge ahead for the PM’s XI at Manuka Oval this week against an amazing Indian side. But as I said to PM Narendra Modi, I’m backing the Aussies to get the job done.”
Virat Kohli’s job not even half done
Kohli’s 30th Test century was his 9th against Australia and 7th on their soil. With all the focus being on him in the lead-up to the series, Kohli started the Perth game on a disappointing note, getting out for just 6 in the first innings. But in the second innings, Kohli came into his element. If there was one opponent and one country where Kohli could have come back to form, it was Australia.
And boy, did it happen. With India in the box seat, Kohli ensured he cashed in on the opportunity, remaining 100 off 143 balls to give Australia a daunting target of 534 as India finished on a strong 487/6 declared. In what is likely to be his farewell Test tour of Australia, Kohli has begun well, and if India are to register a third straight series win, this form needs to continue.
India’s next challenge is the pink-ball Test, in which Australia enjoy a spotless record thus far. But then again, they were also undefeated at the Gabba for 33 years.
