Australia would be 'worst blokes in the world' if they celebrated like Kohli: Aus coach Langer
Adelaide, Dec 8 : Australian coach Justin Langer says if his players were to celebrate wickets like Indian captain Virat Kohli does, they would now be seen as "the worst blokes in the world".
Langer also took umbrage at Sachin Tendulkar's "defensive mindset" tweet following Australia's slow batting on the second day of the opening Test against India.
Kohli was his usual animated self on Friday, celebrating Australian wickets with gusto. Langer said he "loved seeing that passion" but felt Australia players would be judged differently if they did the same.
"He's (Kohli) a superstar of the game and he's the captain. We've talked for as long as I can remember in Australian cricket teams that you want to keep the opposition captain down as much as possible. You love seeing that passion in sport," Langer told Fox Cricket.
"Mind you I think if we did that at the moment we'd be the worst blokes in the world. It's a fine line isn't it?
"That's the truth of it, but I love seeing the passion, that is great passion. But as I said there's a fine line."
The head coach did concede the team was playing to a different standard of scrutiny, a fallout of the ball-tampering fiasco in South Africa in March.
Earlier, Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle, "TeamIndia should make the most of this situation and not lose their grip. The defensive mindset by the Australian batsmen at home is something I've not seen before in my experience."
The legendary batsman's comment did not go well with Langer, who defended his inexperienced batting line-up's approach.
"The teams that Sachin would have played against started with Allan Border and David Boon, and Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh, and Ricky Ponting," Langer told Fox Cricket.
"Guys that had great Test match experience and they knew their game, were comfortable in their own skin and they knew what to expect.
"Whereas we've got a team at the moment who are very inexperienced in Test match cricket, particularly our batting side."
Tendulkar, who played his first match against Australia in 1991, and his last in 2013, faced a different era of Australian cricket compared to the current side that is rebuilding in the wake of the ball-tampering fiasco.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Gulmarg terror attack: Two soldiers succumb to injuries, toll rises to four
Srinagar (PTI): Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
Two Army porters died on Thursday while another porter and a soldier were injured.
Terrorists attacked a vehicle of the force six kilometres from tourist hotspot Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, officials said on Thursday.
They had said the terrorists opened fire on the Army vehicle in the Bota Pathri area in the evening when it was headed for the Nagin post in the Afrawat range.
Confirming the deaths of the two porters, the officials had said the condition of two of the injured soldiers was critical.
They had said the soldiers in the vehicle opened retaliatory fire when they came under attack.
The area is completely dominated by the Army and there were reports recently that a terrorist group had infiltrated during early summer and taken shelter in the higher reaches of the Afrawat range, they said.
The Bota Pathri area was recently opened to tourists.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the recent spate of attacks in the Valley was a matter of serious concern.
"Very unfortunate news about the attack on the Army vehicles in the Bota Pathri area of north Kashmir, which has resulted in some casualties and injuries. This recent spate of attacks in Kashmir is a matter of serious concern," he said in a post on X.
"I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and send my condolences to the loved ones of the people who lost their lives. I also pray that the injured make a complete and swift recovery," he added.
Former chief minister and People's Democratic Party supremo Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack.
The BJP's Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina, meanwhile, condemned the attack and blamed Pakistan for trying to destabilise peace and tranquillity in the Union Territory.
The attack came amid a spike in terror incidents in the Valley.
In another deadly attack on Sunday, six non-local labourers and a local doctor were killed when terrorists fired indiscriminately upon them at the Z-Morh tunnel construction site in the Gagangir area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
Before that, a labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian district on October 18.
Earlier on Thursday, terrorists shot at and injured a labourer from Uttar Pradesh in the Tral area of Pulwama district.
