South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, in a recent interview to a cricket website, had recalled an incident during an IPL game when he felt that Kohli lacked maturity.
Virat Kohli
Kagiso Rabada may have found Virat Kohli's on-field demeanour to be "very immature" but the Indian captain Tuesday showed enough maturity, refraining from getting into a war of words ahead of their World Cup encounter against South Africa.
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Rabada, in a recent interview to a cricket website, had recalled an incident during an IPL game when he felt that Kohli lacked maturity.
Watch: World Cup 2019: An emotional open letter to Hardik Pandya by an Indian cricket fan
"I was just thinking about the game plan, really, but Virat, he hit me for a boundary and then he had a word. And then when you give it back to him, he gets angry. I don't get the guy. Maybe he does it because it gets him going, but that comes across as very immature for me. He is a phenomenal player but he can't take the abuse," Rabada had said.
When a South African scribe popped the question, Kohli first denied having any knowledge of the comment made by the Prateas speedster, but when probed further, the Indian skipper immediately doused the fire.
"Well, I played against him many times and if anything needs to be discussed, we can discuss it man-to-man. I am not using a press conference to answer anything," Kohli replied.
In fact, he went a step ahead and praised Rabada for being a genuine match-winner for the Proteas.
"Look whether (Lungi) Ngidi plays, or (Dale) Steyn plays or not, Rabada is always going to be a world-class bowler and a threat to any side he plays against. He has the kind of passion and he has a kind of skill-set that he can. On his day, he can go through any batting order," Kohli said.
"So against guys like Rabada, who can turn up on their day and bowl outstandingly well, you have to be respectful but have that self-belief in yourself as well and that balance will be crucial. Whether he plays with Dale and Ngidi or by himself, he is going to be a skilful bowler," he added.
When a beleaguered South African skipper Faf du Plessis, already reeling under Steyn's pull-out and Ngidi's absence, was posed the question, he managed to keep his sense of humour intact.
"A lot of other things are haunting me at the moment (smiling). Virat is a great player. Virat, whether you say something bad into the media, or you say something good, he is still going to rock up a good player at the match. I don't think that makes too much of a difference," the unassuming skipper replied.
With inputs from PTI
Fans on Twitter couldn't keep calm and reacted in the funniest ways:
Waiting to see Virat Kohli showing some ‘maturity’ while facing Kagiso Rabada #INDvSA
— C.VENKATESH (@C4CRICVENKATESH) June 5, 2019
Imagine Rabada taking the wicket of Kohli tmm? LOOOOL I WOULD SCREAM #CWC19
— Laiba ðu00c2u009fu00c2u0087µðu00c2u009fu00c2u0087° (@omglaibaa) June 5, 2019
Rabada: Kohli is "immature"
— Arjun chauhan ðu00c2u009fu00c2u0087®ðu00c2u009fu00c2u0087³ (@imarjunchauhan) June 4, 2019
My reaction: ðu00c2u009fu00c2u0091u00c2u0087 pic.twitter.com/nOC6dOFPIQ
Virat Kohli described South Africa bowler Kagiso Rabada as 'world class' ahead of India's @cricketworldcup fixture against South Africa tomorrow. ðu00c2u009fu00c2u0094½ pic.twitter.com/qZo7PDnV6Z
— ICC (@ICC) June 4, 2019
*Kohli on Rabada's statement*
— Aniket (@AniketNITC) June 4, 2019
Personally Vs In Conference pic.twitter.com/neUwjomRmQ
Basically it was Kohli’s polite way of telling Rabada, “Tu bahar mil bc” pic.twitter.com/9XPRUrpSkB
— Bhakt Tippler (@MrTippler) June 4, 2019
Meanwhile Virat Kohli Socked him: #Rabada #ViratKohli #CWC #BANvSA pic.twitter.com/Ke0HhlW7WT
— Jaidev Kesti (@jaidev_24) June 2, 2019
Rabada calling Virat "immature" is brilliant.
— Eid Dennisbarak (@DennisCricket_) June 2, 2019
And correct.
Need proof?
Here Kohli tells Rabada to "talk to the hand". pic.twitter.com/gFd8mzaYH5
When Virat said he didn't know what Rabada had said about him, I liked that.
— Manya (@CSKian716) June 4, 2019
The captain doesn't care and he doesn't need to. He doesn't need negative energies to feed on, especially Kohli who is so full of energy that he can probably put some of that on sale on Amazon. #CWC19
Kohli fans watching rabada’s bowling today pic.twitter.com/A4nO9PMyGU
— vinodh (@vinodh_mvk) June 2, 2019
kohli vs rabada compilation âu00c2u0097u00c2u008f Highlights Skills âu00c2u0097u00c2u008f á´´á´° 1080p pic.twitter.com/e1YXf4yC4V
— nihar (@niharfc) June 1, 2019
Rabada chirped Kohli .My legs are shaking as I think of the game tomorrow .Not sure I want early wickets or just no wickets but a very slow rr mnc
— Lubabalo G Ntlaka (@lue_balo) June 4, 2019
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