Australia should not become ‘pussycats’ while dealing with Virat Kohli: Former Australian captain Kim Hughes

Former Australian skipper Kim Hughes reckons that Australia should continue playing cricket the Australian way and the bit of banter should be part of the game, especially against someone like Indian batting lynchpin Virat Kohli, who Hughes feels, can be put under pressure.

Hughes said that a bit of just a good stare, or a couple of words, that's part of the Australian way should be there, and against Kohli they cannot become ‘pussycats’. — Hughes said that a bit of just a good stare, or a couple of words, that’s part of the Australian way should be there, and against Kohli they cannot become ‘pussycats’.

Former Australian skipper Kim Hughes reckons that Australia should continue playing cricket the Australian way and the bit of banter should be part of the game, especially against someone like Indian batting lynchpin Virat Kohli, who Hughes feels, can be put under pressure.

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While the focus for Australian cricket, after the damning Longstaff culture report, has been to approach the game with a mellowed down attitude, Hughes said that a bit of just a good stare, or a couple of words, that’s part of the Australian way should be there, and against Kohli they cannot become ‘pussycats’.

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“You are not going to become pussycats. That’s not racially vilifying him (Kohli) at all or anything like that but just a good stare, or a couple of words, that’s part of the Australian way,” Hughes told Canberra Times.

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Hughes said that while Kohli is the best batsman in the world, he is also under constant pressure with 1.2 billion people in the world supporting him and if one can get under his skin, he ‘might chuck the toys out of the cart’.

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“Some are just unflappable, it doesn’t seem to matter what happens to them, like a Clive Lloyd – nothing seemed to phase him. Where a Kohli, you just get the feeling that if things didn’t go well, and you could keep the pressure on him, he might chuck the toys out of the cart,” said the 64-year-old, who played 70 Tests for Australia between 1977 and 1984.

“I saw him get a run-out once and he was blowing kisses, this sort of stuff. Therefore, and I think the other thing, the Indian players all gain a tremendous amount of faith and belief in him. That’s why, if you can, you can really get into him, more mentally. The real challenge for him is to stay calm, don’t get too emotionally, ” he added.