A video asking Australia cricket team stars to describe Virat Kohli in one word has gone viral, particularly due to Australian captain Pat Cummins' response. While the likes of Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith gave flowery descriptions for the India stalwart, Cummins stayed true to his tongue-in-cheek humour, labelling Kohli as simply "batter". Cummins' response drew the ire of Indian fans on social media, with some labelling him arrogant, while some more expressed their annoyance at Cummins' choice of words. "Need Pat Cummins' downfall," posted one user, as a reply to the video posted on X by Australian media outlet ABC Sport. "Not going to lie, this is becoming quite cringe now," retorted another user.
Cummins' sarcastic one-word responses are not new. A few weeks earlier, in another video for ABC Sport, Cummins had described India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as "bowler".
While Cummins chose to stick to humour, the other Australia stars revealed their admiration for Kohli with their words.
Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon labelled Kohli as a "superstar", Steve Smith called him "classy", and Travis Head described him as a "freak".
Despite the praise, Kohli has had an inconsistent 2024, with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. While he won the Orange Cap in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, and won the 'Player of the Match' award in the T20 World Cup 2024 final, the rest of his batting form has been patchy.
Kohli has managed only 373 runs in 8 Tests so far in 2024, at an underwhelming average of 26.64. His only century in Tests in the year came in the first Test against Australia at Perth.
However, Kohli's inconsistent form was at display in the second Test at Adelaide, as he got out for 7 and 11 in two innings respectively.
With India needing to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in order to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2025, the onus lies on Kohli to step up.