‘Taking the piss out of the Barmy Army’ - Michael Vaughan on Virat Kohli's Trumpet celebration

India skipper Virat Kohli’s animated gesture in the fourth Test at the Oval against England has divided the world. When the visitors were inching towards a victory on day five, Kohli used trumpet and pointed 10 fingers at the Barmy Army. The incident occurred when Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Ollie Pope for a duck with an absolute peach of a delivery, which also triggered a collapse as England were shot out for just 210.

Sensing an opportunity to take a dig at the passionate Barmy Army, Kohli got into the act and made sure to feel them who are bossing the game. This act from Kohli was the main talking point, which got experts, fans, and critics into a debate as to whether this was necessary when an inevitable victory was around the corner for India.

Cricket writer Lawrence Booth sarcastically took a dig at Kohli and wrote ‘loved it, but later he clarified his stance saying, he didn’t “really love this” and found it “weird when a top-class sportsman isn’t content with winning a game, having totally outplayed the opposition, but wants to stick it to the fans too.”

To clear up any confusion, I don't really love this. I find it weird when a top-class sportsman isn't content with winning a game, having totally outplayed the opposition, but wants to stick it to the fans too. https://t.co/s2LJi4HnuK

— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) September 6, 2021

Former England opening batter Nick Compton too didn’t like what the Indian skipper did and took to Twitter to express his displeasure. “Yea it doesn’t look good for him! No need.”

Yea it doesn’t look good for him! No need

— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) September 6, 2021

One fan even went to the extreme and described this act of Kohli as ‘classless’

Need more characters like Virat Kohli: Michael Vaughan

Cricketer-turned-expert Michael Vaughan though had a different take on the matter and lauded Kohli’s character by calling him an incredible leader of the game.

“Virat Kohli is an incredible leader,” the 2005 Ashes-winning captain told Fox Sports’ The Back Page.

“He’s just got this buzz of energy. He was taking the piss out of the Barmy Army with these trumpet signs. I love it. We don’t have enough characters in the game and mimicking the crowd, trying to get his own supporters going.”

Vaughan further opined that Kohli’s involvement in the game by including the crowds in it is a fascinating quality to have. “When they came out after lunch, he was getting them going. It was like he was at the end of the long jump in the Olympics trying to get the crowd going.

“He’s an amazing character, and yesterday he gave a tactical masterclass on how to win a Test match.”

The former England captain also felt that those who thought Kohli’s gesture is not correct for the game don’t understand the meaning of entertainment.

“Those that complain are just boring,” the former top-order batsman said. “They don’t understand entertainment.”

“We’re in the entertainment industry where we need people like Virat Kohli. We need characters.

“You go back to the 80s and 90s there was character (after character). We work with them; Shane Warne is one of the great characters, an absolute great guy, mad as a box of frogs. But you know that you’ve got a great character in the commentary box and on the field, and when you get someone like Virat Kohli, who stands out because we don’t have a lot of characters, there are not many teams that have characters who are willing to do what Virat does, and he’s very prickly, he doesn’t like criticism, he’s always answering back to anyone that criticizes him, again, I like that, it’s not a problem,” Vaughan added.