Australian media critical of 'villain' Virat Kohli after failure in Border-Gavaskar Trophy: 'Made a lot of noise in the field...'

Team India had a Test series to forget against Australia Down Under after they surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the Aussies for the first time in a decade. Pat Cummins-led Australia emerged victorious in the five-match Test series against India, clinching the series 3-1. The last time India had lost a Test series to Australia was during the 2014-15 season Down Under.

While youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy were among the positives that India can takeaway from the series, seniors including skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed to live up to the occasion. Kohli, in fact, had scored an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, but has been out of form ever since, aggregating just 86 runs from the remaining four matches.

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Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, managed just 31 runs from five innings. Rohit had missed the first Test due to the birth of his second child and opted out of the fifth Test in Sydney due to poor form. Jasprit Bumrah led India in both of those matches.

The Australian media were critical of Team India, more particularly Virat Kohli, who often dominates Aussie bowlers Down Under but it was a different story this time around.

How Australian media reacted to Virat Kohli

During the fifth Test in Sydney, Virat Kohli made a "sandpaper gesture" to Australian fans after some of them had accused Indians of doing something similar. Kohli was dismissed by Scott Boland in both innings of the fifth Test. The Sydney Morning Herald, in their player ratings, gave Kohli only a 2/10 and said: "Made a lot of noise in the field but was bewitched by Boland in both innings, ending a series where every one of his dismissals was to an edge behind the wicket on the wide line that Australia now know to use. India will soon have to consider how much longer Kohli can go on in Tests."

News.com.au said that while Australia will always remember Kohli as a batting great, he will still be considered as a villain. "Australia will always remember Virat Kohli as a batting great, albeit a cricketer whose form continued to disintegrate on what was almost certainly his final tour Down Under as a Test cricketer," the website said. "But the megastar Indian will best be remembered by Australia in a similar fashion to sporting greats such as Gary Hall junior, Novak Djokovic and Stuart Broad: for all the brilliance Kohli has conjured, he is first and foremost a villain," added the report.

A report in The Australian newspaper termed the recently-concluded series as "Virat Kohli's last dance". "Virat Kohli had one final chance to salvage something from an underwhelming summer. Instead, as the Test and trophy slipped away he slowly lost control," added the report.

Fox Sports, in their analysis of Virat Kohli, too said that the Delhi cricketer had become a villain due to his on-field antics, including his shoulder-bump at Sam Konstas. "Kohli deserved to end his Test career in Australia with a standing ovation, but instead he was showered with boos by the Sydney crowd as he walked out to bat on Saturday afternoon," said the report.

"Having become public enemy No. 1 following his shoulder barge on teenager Sam Konstas, for which he copped a 20 per cent of his match fee, Kohli cemented his status as a villain in the eyes of Australia’s cricket fans," the report added.

Virat Kohli's performance in Australia this series 

Virat Kohli managed to score just 190 runs from five Tests in the series against Australia. This includes a century in the first Test in Perth, but ever since, the former India captain has been out of form. Kohli struggled with outside-off deliveries and was caught behind the wicket eight times.