‘You don’t upset bear, you don’t upset Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni’: Former Australia cricketer Dean Jones

Former Australia cricketer Dean Jones said that the Australian team did not say anything to Kohli because it would not be in their best interests.

Former Australia cricketer Dean Jones believes that the opposition teams should not say anything to India captain Virat Kohli because he gets fuelled by confrontation. In a recent interview, Jones was questioned on the remarks made by former Aussie captain Michael Clarke in April that Australia was ‘sucking up’ to Kohli and co. during the 2018-19 series. In reply to the question, Jones said that Australia team did not say anything to Kohli because it was not in their best interests.

File image of Virat Kohli and Tim Paine.(Reuters)

“I’ll tell you the reason why they went quiet on Virat. Because we went quiet when Viv Richards came out to bat. We went quiet on Javed Miandad, on Martin Crowe,” Jones was quoted as saying in an interview on Sportscreen Youtube channel.

“And there is a reason behind that. Because we know when someone is feeling down, the pitch is not great, there is nothing going on, and all of a sudden if anyone has a snap at you, then you lift your ears and say ‘oh, you have something to say’,” Jones added. 

Jones further added: “We saw in the Michael Jordan ‘s documentary ‘The Last Dance’, he would pick up a fight just to get himself up. And we know that you don’t upset the bear, you don’t upset Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni, you don’t upset certain players, because this is what they love. They love confrontation. Don’t give him any oxygen.”

Clarke, in his interview, had indicated that the Australia team played less aggressively because they were afraid about their IPL contracts. But Jones called the remarks as “rubbish”.

“But I find this reason about not upsetting Virat because of IPL contracts a bit rubbish. Is Virat going to stop anyone from playing? That is down to the coaches and managers who they pick,” he said.