India and Australia are locked in a tight, exciting four-match Test series and like the action on the cricket pitch, there has been plenty of fiery exchange off the pitch as well. Matthew Hayden like several Australian and Indian cricketers of the past has been approached for interviews and sound bites and he got talking recently when asked about Indian cricket, the national team and the man of the hour Virat Kohli.In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, on being asked how is Virat Kohli different from previous Indian captains such as Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni, the former Aussie opener said, Virat said the other day that he cared about 1.3 billion Indians and does not mind if one individual has a different opinion. That sort of approach is right. He seems to say that we are a nation that is rising. None of those who you mentioned has played well away from home and that is Virats challenge.Ex-Aussie wicketekeeper Ian Healy recently said that he is losing respect for Virat Kohli. On being asked whether he too is losing respect for the Indian captain, Hayden said, No. Virat, like I did, always walks the fine line. We are passionate about the game and we believe that the body language, attitude, temperament, discipline and domination are part of our arsenal. Sometimes, they get spill over. The key here is respect. They only thing I play the game for is to earn respect from fellow players. I am sure that is exactly with Virat as well. He wants to play the game in his spirit. And he also wants to play the game hard. I can say that the Indian cricketers are a privileged society. They earn a lot of money and get a lot of love from the country. These players are blessed. They get a lot adulation and even I started getting it here. I have actually become India-Australian and may be in that order. I attended the BCCI awards function the other night because of the respect for the game where they gave a lifetime achievement to a couple of cricketers. So did Virat challenge all this? No. He is earning respect. Also Read-India vs Australia 3rd Test 2017: Ranchi pitch to be a rank turner?
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