Virat Kohli and Mitchell Johnson feud: How it all started

Johnson may have retired from international cricket but that did not stop him from having a dig at Kohli during the ICC World T20 2016.

December 2014, India and Australia played in the emotional Test post the demise of Phil Hughes. Mitchell Johnson welcomed Virat Kohli with a bouncer at the crease, felling the batsman. He immediately went up to Kohli to check on his well-being. Things seemed fine between the two sportsmen but later during the series, the two players sparked off a rivalry and things have not been mended yet.

Johnson may have retired from international cricket but that did not stop him from having a dig at Kohli during the ICC World T20 2016. He did not name Kohli in his list of best current batsmen and further poked fun at the Indian cricketer when he said Kohli’s form went missing during the all important ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semi-final.

The fired-up Kohli responded to that by smashing an unbeaten 82 from 51 balls, knocking out Australia from the competition.

How it all began?

Johnson, who will now be turning up for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the upcoming IPL, wrote about the rivalry in his column for Fox Sports.

“We’ve had our differences and most of it stems from the 2014 Adelaide Test, when a ball I threw hit Virat on the body. I was legitimately trying to run him out but he didn’t like what I did. When he made some comment in the media that night about having no respect for me as a player, that’s when I got really annoyed.”

Kohli did not take the incident well and hit out at Johnson at the day-end press conference.

“I respect quite a few of (the Australian players) but someone who doesn’t respect me I’ve got no reason to respect him. It was going on throughout the day. 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. 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,” Kohli had said then.

Despite not being in best of terms, Johnson praised Kohli’s competitive spirit which he felt is very Australian like. He continued in his column, “Having said that, Virat is the kind of player you’d want in your team. He’s a real fighter and to be honest he’s a bit like most of us were in the Australian team. We go pretty hard on the field, and he’s got that about him as well.”

“The fact he plays the game like us is probably why we’ve rubbed each other the wrong way. If I sit back and digest it properly, we’re actually quite similar in the way we approach the game. He’s a fiery character and he pushes the boundaries, just like I’ve always tried to do. Maybe that’s why we’ve clashed so often.”

“I can’t wait to come up against him and his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammates later in the IPL.”

After Steve Smith’s hundred set up the World Cup 2015 semi-final for Australia, Kohli was expected to do the job for India. Johnson set him up beautifully and dismissed him. Come May 9, when RCB take on KXIP, we will see the resumption of the battle between these two top cricketers.