IND vs AUS: Ex Aussie Cricketer Simon Katich Bizarrely Calls Kohli & Jadeja Media Confrontations as 'Mind Games'

Former cricketer Simon Katich has labelled Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja's recent confrontations with the Australian media as 'mind games' due to the 'enormity' of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Team India's Kohli and Jadeja have had some sour moments with the hosts' media since their arrival in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test, scheduled to be played from Thursday (December 26) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

On Saturday (December 21), Jadeja was accussed of avoiding the Australian media. A section of Australian media suggested that Jadeja refused to answer questions in English and left the media arrangement before the Australian reporters could ask him their questions.

However, according to India Today, an Indian journalist, who was at the MCG press conference, said even the Indian journalists did not get a chance to ask their questions due to time constraints as argued by the Indian team media manager.

Earlier on December 19, Kohli had confronted a female journalist for taking photos and recording video of his family without permission earlier last week, while Jadeja has been accused by the Australian press for not taking questions in English after an MCG net session.

Now, the ex Aussie cricketer Katich, who is working with Channel 7, has weighed in on the recent incidents and hit out at the cricketers, saying that the media was there to promote the game.

"Obviously, there's been a few things unfolding in the last week or so, that haven't gone down well at that camp. It's probably just the mind games being played, given the enormity of this series. The media are here to promote the game and I don't know what the Indians are thinking at the moment. That's their problem," Katich said when speaking on Channel 7.

Kohli Labelled a Bully

Kohli confronted a female reporter after the Indian cricketer was unhappy with videos being recorded and photos clicked of his family upon their arrival at the Melbourne Airport. "With my kids, I need some privacy. You can't film without asking me," Kohli told the media at the airport.

However, a Nine Sports journalist has lashed out at Kohli, labelling the former India captain as a "bully" and slammed the Indian batter for "berating" the female reporter.

"Nat was out there with a cameraman, a Channel 7 reporter was out there with his cameraman and they were doing what we do on a daily basis essentially, and that's be at the airport to actually get identities, whether they're politicians, whether they're sporting identities or whatever," Jones was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

"He took umbrage, he being Virat Kohli, to the fact the cameras were focused on him. Well duh! You're a batting superstar, you're a global superstar in the world of cricket, and he takes umbrage to the fact that the attention is focused on him.

"What really got my back up when I saw the footage was that he turned around to the three blokes, the two cameramen and the reporter from Channel 7, and said you guys are OK, it's her.

"Really? Big tough man, Virat. And then he stood over this girl, Nat Yoannidis, who's about five foot one, five foot two, and just absolutely berated her. You're nothing but a bully, Virat," Jones added.