Virat Kohli’s aggression keeps cricket alive, says former umpire Anil Chaudhary

Former international umpire Anil Chaudhary says Virat Kohli's passion and aggression keep cricket exciting, while insisting the star batter bears no malice. He also backed non-striker run-outs and predicted future rule changes to discourage batters from gaining unfair advantages

New Delhi: Former international umpire Anil Chaudhary believes high-energy personalities like Virat Kohli are vital for the sport to retain its charm, while revealing that the star batter acts aggressively out of pure competitive spirit without any malice.

Kohli, who recently played in India’s 2-1 ODI series loss to England, will be next seen in action during the series against the West Indies in September. “Actually, my advantage with Virat was that I had officiated his matches since childhood, so I have known him for a long time. He doesn’t have any malice.

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“He reacts aggressively sometimes, but if you’re right, he’ll give you a thumbs up too. Between overs, he’ll come over and put a hand around your waist. But he is lively throughout. Players like him should be there; otherwise, the game will get boring,” Chaudhary said on JioHotstar.

Reflecting on the fiery on-field altercations in the IPL, including the famous heated exchange between Kohli and Gautam Gambhir in 2013, Chaudhary noted that aggression is intrinsic to northern players and brings a unique flavour to the game, provided it stays within limits.

“I knew something like that would happen because all of them from the North play with aggression. I have played local cricket too, and our players have always played like this. If they don’t play with that aggression, their performances won’t come out as well. The flavour of the game won’t be there if you put too many restrictions on the players. But there’s a limit, and it shouldn’t be crossed.”

Turning to the ongoing debate surrounding run-outs at the non-striker’s end, Chaudhary defended the mode of dismissal while predicting that cricket authorities might soon introduce a structured penalty mechanism to curb batters taking an unfair start.

“The dismissal is fair in cricket. The batter at the non-striker’s end is running so far ahead that the advantage he gets is that he has only a few more steps to cover to reach the other end, which is unfair.

”I think very soon, in a year or two, a rule will come in with a warning system, one warning, two warnings, and then a run penalty. Because it’s unfair. Many times, on the last ball, the non-striker starts running early, and the striker does the same. So, what’s left for the bowler?” he said.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra shared a humorous story from an Australian tour involving former opener Virender Sehwag and veteran umpire Steve Bucknor. “Whatever Sachin Tendulkar wanted to say, Viru (Virender Sehwag) would pass on as messages. He was standing next to Steve at square leg and asked, ‘Steve, how old are you?’ Steve said, ’52’ or ’53’, whatever it was.

“Viru then said, ‘Steve, you can’t hear, you can’t see, you should retire.’ So, I asked Viru, ‘Are you mad? He’ll give you out!’ He replied, ‘He’s giving Tendulkar wrong decisions anyway. If he’s going to keep giving wrong decisions, what’s the difference? At least let me speak my mind!'” Chopra recalled.

Veteran fast bowler Umesh Yadav also admitted to engaging in tongue-in-cheek banter to rattle umpires during high-pressure match situations. “Normally, when you’re playing and you feel the umpire is doing something intentionally, you also end up doing a few things intentionally, just to annoy the umpire!

“Sometimes, when you’re bowling and the batter says something to you unnecessarily, you’ll say, ‘Sir, can’t you see? Do you want to wear glasses? I hope the fog hasn’t settled on them. I hope you didn’t fall asleep!’ So, you end up doing those cheeky kinds of things.”