He claimed Kohli will receive both positive and negative response from the Australian fans. Though, he might receive a certain amount of boos for his antics on the field

With the cricketing fans eagerly waiting for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia, former Australian cricketer, Geoff Lawson has not missed the opportunity to provoke the fans. He called Virat Kohli, one of India’s premier batsmen, a ‘faux villain’.

These words of Lawson depict the cut-throat competition that the India-Australia Test cricket series has always been associated with. Kohli who has been aggressive on the field has been part of this rivalry with Australians being either angered or inspired by him. “Virat Kohli will play the faux villain to Jasprit Bumrah’s likeable nature. Bumrah has the fast bowlers privilege of [spending] half a life at fine leg which gives him the ideal chance to interact with the crowd, winning smiles and hearts while Kohli will lurk in the infield appealing vociferously fielding magnificently and engaging verbally with any Australian player so inclined to conversation, and there will be one or two of those, said to Mid-day about Kohli’s fielding and appealing style opposite to Bumrah’s friendly disposition.”

Looking at Kohli’s performances against Australia, one cannot but think that he is invincible. He scored 2042 runs in 25 Test matches with the average of 47.49, he has especially loved playing in Australia due to the nature of his batting style, which is aggressive. The 2014–15 series is one of the best that he has played against Aussies, where he has amassed 692 runs.

The Border-Gavaskar trophy which is in honour of Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border has been in India’s possession since 2017 after a 2-1 victory in India. India has successfully retained the trophy in the later series such as the 2018-19 and 2020–21 series where India won in Australia for the first time.

However, Lawson thinks that it is high time that the trophy is taken back to Australia. “The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been with the BCCI for a decade now, it is time to return the trophy to the trophy shelf in Jolimont [Cricket Australia’s head office in Victoria],” he said, pointing at the fighting spirit of the Australian side, especially under the skipper Pat Cummins.

Lawson’s words also imply that Kohli will receive both positive and negative response from the Australian fans. Though he might receive a certain amount of boos for his antics on the field, he is sure to be appreciated for his performances. “Aussie crowds love a competitor like Kohli, they may give him some grief if he plays the antagonist, but you can guarantee that if he makes 50s and 100s he will be loudly applauded by the fans,” Lawson pointed out.

With the series coming up, focus will be on Kohli and the Indian team. The question which arises is can India make it a third consecutive series win in Australian conditions, which would certainly put the Indian team in a very strong position in the longer format of the game. As the two teams prepare for yet another battle on the cricket field, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy promises to be yet another nail-biting encounter between two cricketing giants – India and Australia.