A three-year-old video of Australia captain Pat Cummins talking about Virat Kohli‘s fanatic fanbase in India has resurfaced online. In proof of what is arguably one of the most passionate yet aggressive fanbases in cricket, Cummins spoke about how one gets “absolutely hounded” by Indian media and fans. Speaking on The Grade Cricketer podcast, Cummins mentioned an anecdote about when he had tweeted hoping Kohli wouldn’t score a hundred; and was then flooded with replies when Kohli scored one against Australia six months later.
“Indian media…,” jokes Cummins, “if you live on social media at all, you get absolutely hounded.”
“Say anything about Virat Kohli, and look out for the next years,” added the 2023 World Cup winning captain.
In the anecdote, Cummins mentions that he had been attacked by Kohli fans for a tweet that he had thought was actually a compliment to the Indian great.
Recalling his tweet, Cummins said, “I thought it was a bit of a compliment, ‘He’s a great player, hope he doesn’t score a hundred because he’s a gun player.”
Cummins said that his phone “blew up” when Kohli scored a century, bringing out laughter from the podcast hosts.
The event in context is in 2018, when captain Kohli had slammed 123 in the second Test of the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy, in Perth. That was the only Test that India lost, in what turned out to be a historic series win down under.
In recent outings, Cummins has had the last laugh over Virat Kohli. In particular, the 2023 World Cup Final, where the pacer bowled Kohli to rattle the Indian innings. Cummins also recently reached the IPL 2024 Final, where his Sunrisers Hyderabad side were defeated by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
India and Australia are two of the teams hotly-tipped to make it to the latter stages of the 2024 T20 World Cup, setting up the possibility of more Kohli-Cummins encounters.
