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Message: [QUOTE="1910, post: 2644702, member: 8272"] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]In a refreshingly candid question and answer session that was as disarming as it will doubtlessly prove distasteful to his already bitter rivals, Kohli made no attempt to swathe his true feelings about some members of the Australian team in sport’s traditional diplomatic clichés.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“I respect quite a few of them but someone who doesn’t respect me I’ve got no reason to respect him,” Kohli said with an unflinching and incisive straightness that he had earlier shown with the cover drive that raised his third century of this Commonwealth Bank Series.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“It was going on throughout the day.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Helvetica] [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“They were calling me a spoiled brat and I said ‘maybe that’s the way I am, and I know you guys hate me’ … and it worked in my favour I guess.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“I like playing against Australia because it’s very hard for them to stay calm and I don’t mind an argument on the field.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“It really excites me and brings the best out of me, so they don’t seem to be learning their lesson.” “I was really annoyed with him (Johnson) hitting me with the ball and I told him that’s not on – try and hit the stumps next time, not my body,” Kohli explained later, once more ignoring the accepted covenant that what happens on field stays there. [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“I just backed myself,” Kohli replied when asked, as was posed to others during the Brisbane Test, if he was concerned that provoking Johnson might prove counter-productive.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“He was going at 4.7 (runs) per over today and didn’t get a wicket throughout the day, and I backed myself that I could take him on even if I keep talking to him.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“That’s important, you can’t then back off after saying a few words and not show it with your skill so I decided that whenever he comes on to bowl I was going to back myself and take him on.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“I don’t mind giving a word back and neither does he, so it kept going on.” [/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“Good for them,” Kohli responded when asked if he saw any undercurrent of over-confidence or conceit in the attitude of the home team.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“They have the right to talk I guess because they are two-nil up as of now.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“It’s funny in cricket, when you are on top you can say anything you want.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“It’s when the chips are down that you’ve got to stand up and say what you have to say and then go out there and prove it.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“When we played in India (last year) there was not so many words coming back from them which was very surprising.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“We are two-nil down here but we still took them on today and showed what we can do with the bat, which is the character of this Indian team.”[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]And while his feud with Johnson has a Test match and a bit, as well as a Carlton Mid ODI Series and a ICC Cricket World Cup to run in this Australian summer, Kohli also put on notice any team that might decide – having learned from today’s tactics – to play the silent card and not engage him in any on-field banter.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“Well you always have a few (players) that can’t keep calm in every team,” he smiled.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][FONT=Helvetica][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#363636][FONT=Merriweather]“So I have my targets.” [/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

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