Nathan Lyon rekindles how Virat Kohli riled him with incessant ‘Federer’ remark in the 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy

As India gear up for the mega rivalry against Australia Down Under, even before the battle takes the yard, the off-field rivalries have already started taking flight. Rekindling memories of the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy where Virat Kohli redefined the bounds of aggression, seasoned Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon revealed how the latter got under his skin with an incessant ‘Federer’ remark.

In a video shared by Cricket Australia’s official X handle, Lyon said, “The one battle that comes out to me is the 2014 Test at Adelaide Oval where he (Kohli) got hundreds in both innings. I was bowling to him and he was batting that easily. He’d come down to the non-striker’s end and just say ‘Federer’. And I was like ‘Oh, okay, what’s this?’”

He further added, “He (Kohli) kept doing it, kept doing it every time. Every time he’d come down there, he was like ‘Federer, Federer’. And I said ‘Mate, I don’t know if I’m wrong, but are we playing the wrong sport if you think you’re Roger Federer.’ And he goes ‘Nah, nah, I’ve got a beautiful forehand’. I’m just like ‘Ah, okay.’ You’re a decent player when you can just sit there and do that mid-innings.”

Virat Kohli hammered two centuries in that very Test, blasting 115 and 141 despite India falling short of the finish line by 48 runs. From the 13 Test matches that Kohli has played in Australia, he has smashed six centuries while averaging a staggering 54.08.