Kagiso Rabada and Virat Kohli have set the tone for the much-awaited South Africa vs India World Cup 2019 clash with a verbal spat.
The South African speedster Rabada had recently called Kohli “immature” following his face-off with the Indian skipper during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019.
“I was just thinking about the game plan, really, but Virat, he hit me for a boundary and then he had a word. And then when you give it back to him, he gets angry. I don’t get the guy. Maybe he does it because it gets him going, but that comes across as very immature for me. He is a phenomenal player but he can’t take the abuse. But those things can’t distract you”, Rabada told ESPNCricinfo.
Kohli had a classy response when he was recently asked about Rabada’s comments about him. The Indian captain refused to be drawn into a public war of words and said that he would rather have a one-on-one discussion to sort out the issues between them. He also heaped praise on the 24-year-old pacer and called him a world-class bowler before going on to add that the Indian batsmen need to be vary of the threat posed by him when they take the field in Southampton on Wednesday.
“I’ve played against Kagiso (Rabada) many times and I think we can discuss anything that needs to be discussed man-to-man (on Kagiso calling him immature). I don’t need a press conference to answer anything on what he said. Rabada is a world class bowler. He has the kind of skill set to go through any batting order on his day,” said Kohli, who will be eager to get India’s campaign underway on a winning note.
On the other hand, South Africa will be playing their third match in the quadrennial event after having lost to hosts England and Bangladesh.
"Will like to discuss man-to-man": Kohli hits back at Rabada's remarks pic.twitter.com/MbcRyklKzr
— NDTV Sports (@Sports_NDTV) June 4, 2019
