Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann feels the controversial defeat between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli is nothing compared to what he experienced in the hard-fought Ashes series, adding that the sport is without such incidents would be “boring”.
Kohli and Gambhir had a verbal argument during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s away game against Lucknow Super Giants on May 1.
The former Indian skipper also got into a fight with Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and Kyle Mayers when the match drew attention for the wrong reasons.
“Let’s face it, if there was never conflict in sport it would be so boring. Having played Ashes test suites my entire life, this is nothing compared to it,” said Swann, an expert at JioCinema, in a virtual interaction.
Kohli and Gambhir, the LSG team’s mentor, faced severe penalties and were fined 100 per cent of their game fees for violating the IPL’s code of conduct.
Naveen was also charged 50 percent of his match fees.
Swann believes there is nothing wrong with Kohli being ultra-aggressive and says he is “Kohli” because of his passion for the game.
“You should never try to water down the players so much that they don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves.
“One of the reasons Virat Kohli is ‘Virat Kohli’ is his passion for cricket. He’s so direct when he plays and he intimidates a lot of players.
“Some might think he’s going too far. They are massive personalities who grew up and played together. Gautam will never back down from Virat.
“If it spills off the field and there’s swearing, then that’s wrong. As long as there are handshakes after the game and there isn’t a bad image on the screen, I’m all for their passion,” he added.
Impact Player to save ODI
The introduction of the ‘impact player’ rule has seen the IPL post a record 200+ totals and Swann believes it should be implemented at international level, particularly in the ODI format which many believe it should is dying.
The impact player rule, which first came into play in Indian cricket, allows teams to substitute any member of their active XI during the match. “I see it as a success and it should come into international cricket, especially in the 50-over format, because that takes something to stimulate it,” said Swann.
“It’s not even close to T20s anymore. i think it works There shouldn’t be just one player to choose from, it should be like a bench, like in football, you have five substitutions and you can only bring in one at a time. I would never have a problem with that,” he said.
MS Dhoni is still going strong and the Englishman believes there is no reason this season should be hearing the world champion captain’s swan song. It is widely believed that the ongoing IPL would be the last time Dhoni would be seen in action.
“Every time he goes in the bat, he smashes sixes. Why this will be his “last year” is beyond me. If he wants to keep playing, he can do whatever he wants.
“In my books he’s brilliant with the gloves, brilliant with the racquet and his captaincy is still the best in the IPL. I don’t think it’s his last year, I think he’s too big to go. Asked about Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine’s listless show this season, Swann said he just had confidence issues and the Trinidad shouldn’t be “written off”.
“I just think he’s bowling without confidence. Sometimes you get that little bit of luck when a bad ball takes a wicket and it feels right again.
“I’m not writing him off. I’ll still get him on my team. When (Varun) Chakravarthy and Suyash (Sharma) bowl that well, they can hide him (Narine) a little bit,” Swann added.
First publication on: 10-05-2023 at 19:57 IST
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