Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull has revealed that he has been receiving death threats for his criticism of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batsman Virat Kohli. While the cricketer-turned-commentator has often tagged Kohli as the greatest batsman of his generation, he also doesn’t shy away from criticising him whenever he needs to. As an observer of the game, Simon was one of several former players who had criticised Kohli for his batting strike rate during the initial phase of IPL 2024.
Kohli had also expressed his anger over the criticisms about his batting approach. Considering that he has been playing over a decade, he stated that he doesn’t like people telling him how to construct him.
Kohli ended the season as the highest run-getter, although the RCB wait for the IPL title continued.
During a discussion, Kohli’s RCB teammate Dinesh Karthik suggested that the star batter excels in such situations as he likes to prove his critics wrong. Karthik on Cricbuzz after the IPL 2024 final where Doul was also part of the discussion said, “Virat Kohli would like to write a book on how he was this year. He started okay. Thanks to people like Simon (Doull) and a few others who really spurred him on. And you know that side of Virat Kohli. I think that he thrives on that. He is someone who inadvertently holds on to certain things to do well. He loves people proving wrong. Even though he might not come out and say this, it really fuels his passion. He is like a molten lava coming out. He is fiery and you don’t want to be anywhere close to him because you are going to get burnt for sure,”
Doull emphasised that nobody really cares when he praises Kohli, but a slight criticism of the star batter often leads to him getting death threats from his admirers. In a discussion he said, “He’s too good to worry about what if he gets out. He’s too good a player, and that was always my point around him. I said a thousand great things about Virat Kohli, but I say one thing that might be slightly negative or construed to be negative, I get death threats,”
Doull further stated that he has nothing personal against Kohli as he often speaks to him before or after the games.
He added, “It’s never personal. We’ve had great conversations. I’ve interviewed him at tosses, we’ve talked after games, there’s never been an issue. It’s the same thing I said about Babar and talked to him after the game. He also told me that the coach had said that same to him,”
Karthik criticized the death threats against Doull, urging the Indian fans to find the difference between constructive criticism and someone giving sarcastic remarks. Karthik stated, “That’s pretty sad to hear though…You go to basketball, football games and you see pundits speak about the game. I think the Indian fans should really find out the difference between people taking it personally or people talking about his cricketing side. Virat really appreciates that.”
Author: Sangi Roy
Student of mass communication with a deep passion for print media and reading. My hobbies include traveling, exploring ancient history, and visiting museums.
