Australia whip out the victim card...again!

They prod and poke until you finally snap and when you do suddenly they are the innocent ones claiming victimhood No one excels at playing the moral high ground quite like an Australian who just moments earlier was the one stirring the pot This tactic isnrsquot just limited to Australian cricketers it is a triedandtrue strategy for their media as wellJust days ago Virat Kohli found himself embroiled in a heated exchange with a few members of the media at Brisbanes airport following the third Test Kohli who prefers to keep his personal life under wraps was reportedly displeased at the mediarsquos intrusion on his family According to reports Kohli insisted he couldnrsquot be filmed without permission ldquoIt was upon seeing the waiting cameras that Kohli became a little heated over what is largely a misunderstanding when he thought the media was filming him with his childrenrdquo Channel 7 reporter Theo Doropoulos said on 7NEWSFast forward to Saturday and it was Ravindra Jadejas turn to face the media circus Much on the expected lines the Australian media wasted no time in labeling the press conference as a strange and frosty affair with their headline conveniently focusing on the fact that Jadeja refused to answer questions in EnglishAt the MCG on Saturday Indiarsquos media team pointed to reporters who were allowed to ask questions and even acknowledged a few Australian journalists But Jadeja only responded in his native language read the reportThe report indicated that Jadeja answering in his native Hindi was an inconvenience for the Aussie journalists and to top it off he allegedly wrapped up the press conference early It also made sure to mention that Indias media team insisted the conference was for travelling Indian media only even though Australian media were invitedAlso Read Is Fox Crickets poster a subtle nod to Australiarsquos longloved psychological warfareAmit Shah a reporter from Midday pointed out that many Indian journalists donrsquot always get the chance to ask questions due to time constraints but instead of keeping their cool the Australian journalists misbehaved and argued with the Indian media manager after the press conference Shah who regularly attends press conferences noted that this kind of behaviour is uncharacteristic of the Indian press who have never raised a fuss Their behaviour was inappropriate and uncalled for I cover press conferences regularly and even during Australian press conferences many Indian journalists dont get a chance to ask questions due to time limitations but we have never argued or misbehaved he saidBut of course this is Australia Their cricketing culture has always been a masterclass in lsquopsychological warfare It is not enough to outplay the opponent on the field theyrsquove made an art form out of getting inside your head Whether itrsquos the infamous lsquomental disintegrationrsquo tactics of the lsquo90s or todayrsquos more polished version of mind games Australia has long been the pioneer in the field of psychological gymnastics And Saturday was no differentThis story was first published on December 21