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[VIDEO] "Why would I congratulate him?": Kusal Mendis when asked about Virat Kohli's 49th ODI ton

FearlessRoar said:
Kusal Mendis during Pre-match press conference

[Reporter:]

Virat just scored 49th in ODI ton, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar. So, you would like to congratulate him?

[Kusal Mendis:]

Why I would congratulate him?
Click to expand...
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

In the first place, reporters should stop asking irrelevant questions. This Mendis guy is already going through a painful process and has to sort out many issues. He doesn't need to be bothered about others during the match day.
 
He didn’t understand it properly also what reporter is asking
 
Reminds me of the Pakistani journalist asking Kohli/Rohit a similar question after CT17 final.
 
It’s disrespectful of the cricketer to deny congratulating his fellow cricketer on achieving a huge milestone. An obvious PR failure. Had this question been asked to a SENA cricketer he would have talked about it for 2 minutes and rightly so. This is very lame stuff.
 
Maybe he doesn't know the significance of the 49th. And even if he did, you don't force someone to do something.

In any case, I'm happy the journo or whoever he is, got insulted because that was not a question but a firm push to congratulate.

We also need to understand that just because this milestone has captured Indian fans, it might not be that relevant to others.
 
Is this an ICC event or BCCI personal tournament? Fireworks going off for every indian win, birthday birthday birthday, sheez we get it, making the whole game a nauseating experience. Now asking other team captains in their press conferences about wishing virat. Cringeeeeee :uak
 
Idiot question by typical reporter. Mendis didn’t have a clue why he was being asked that question, poor guy.

I almost wish Mendis had answered - “Kohli? Hoga apne ghar ka Kohli” lol.

That would have been fun.
 
This gives me "pleasant moment in the match" vibes
 
Stupid question. But that's what journalists do.
They ask questions that mostly don't make any sense or end up putting next person in an awkward situation.

Mendis's answer is right here because why should he bother to react to some batsman achieving a milestone that too not from his country.

However he could've answered more professionally.
 
Typical Indian reporter, wanting self praise of his country asks a question which is irrelevant.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
I think he is an opportunistic cheerleader. He probably has respect. But explicit mention is probably to take a dig at someone else.
Click to expand...
True. He has in the past explicitly said that he never found it tough bowling to Virat and always used to mention Steve Smith as his toughest opponent. It was only when he was dropped from the team and developed a grudge towards babar that he started acting like a fangirl.
 
Bhaijaan said:
It’s disrespectful of the cricketer to deny congratulating his fellow cricketer on achieving a huge milestone. An obvious PR failure. Had this question been asked to a SENA cricketer he would have talked about it for 2 minutes and rightly so. This is very lame stuff.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, the reporter also forgot to ask Mendis if he was excited to see India in the SF.

A list of questions that should’ve been asked to a SL player ahead of their match against Bangladesh.


“Are you upset with Pandya being ruled out of the WC”.

“Can Shami’s 100th ODI be a Final victory for India?”

“Your thoughts on India’s bowling attack”.
 
Stupid question by the reporter. Ask him about their game with ban. Or why they played so badly this tournament..
 
A simple response would be I will congratulate him when I get the chance to speak to him personally. Congratulations on a great achievement.

Pretty simple response
 
SpiritOf1903 said:
Is this his idea of dawah?. I swear these cricketers are whacked.

Strangest swipe at Babar, ever.

What a mess Pakistan is
Click to expand...
Doubt it’s dawah, dude is too bitter, just his usual point scoring attempt at Babar who he feels is the guy who phased him out of the team.
 
Stoopid question, why would Mendis want to congratulate VK in a presser when they are not scheduled to play each other next?
 
What a weird question imagine being sat for a press conference representing your team, and you randomly get asked do you want to congratulate kohli on his 49th ton. What a weird question lol.
 
Indian journalism which is not limited to sports has gone down the drain. People like this one asking irrelevant questions when a major tournament is going on should never be allowed to be in a press conference. Very good from Mendis.
 
If that had been most Pakistani players, they would have reeled off a list of compliments and how they idolise Virat Kohli.
 
Suleiman said:
This is the 2nd weirdest conference moment behind “any pleasant moment in losing to Pakistan??” Question to Kohli after CT17
Click to expand...
That was a legendary moment. I was at that press conference.

The guy who asked the question, came up to me after the press conference and asked me if he had asked a good question. I said to him that question you asked will make you famous :)
 
Btw, I am not trying to defend the indefensible that is Indian sports journalists.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Awkward moment in the Kusal Mendis pre-match presser - Odd question to ask and stranger reply!

[Reporter:]

Virat just scored 49th in ODI ton, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar. So, you would like to congratulate him?

[Kusal Mendis:]

Why I would congratulate him?


https://twitter.com/x/status/1721189365458567221
Click to expand...
What Kind of question is that? 💀 lol. 😂😂

What else is he gonna ask? Jadeja took 5 wickets yesterday, will you hug him, and follow him on twitter?
 
This is how you answer questions about fellow cricketers

Kane Williamson during pre match press conference:

[Reporter:]

I'm sure you must have seen Glenn Maxwell's innings yesterday. Pretty unbelievable. What did you make of it?

[Kane Williamson:]

Yeah, an incredibly special knock. Yeah, not just obviously the runs specifically but the situation and he was clearly struggling physically and to be able to pull that off and in a partnership with Pat Cummins is without a doubt one of the great World Cup victories for Australia and probably for any team to witness.

At the same time, a tough one for Afghanistan. They've been excellent and, you know, probably won sort of 80 - 90% of that game. And as we know in white ball cricket, it can change quickly. And that was an amazing example of that and a special knock to watch.
 
Suleiman said:
This is the 2nd weirdest conference moment behind “any pleasant moment in losing to Pakistan??” Question to Kohli after CT17
Click to expand...

This was a question? :))

Saj said:
That was a legendary moment. I was at that press conference.

The guy who asked the question, came up to me after the press conference and asked me if he had asked a good question. I said to him that question you asked will make you famous :)
Click to expand...

This happened? :))

Remembering that game, it’s like asking the victim of a grievous bodily harm assault what they found pleasant about the experience.

Erm, it only hurts I laugh?
 
I’m sorry to say this but where is the courtesy and spirit of cricket gone in the Sri Lankan cricket. They had players who were 10 times in stature and they were incredible ambassadors of the game.
 
FearlessRoar said:
This is how you answer questions about fellow cricketers

Kane Williamson during pre match press conference:

[Reporter:]

I'm sure you must have seen Glenn Maxwell's innings yesterday. Pretty unbelievable. What did you make of it?

[Kane Williamson:]

Yeah, an incredibly special knock. Yeah, not just obviously the runs specifically but the situation and he was clearly struggling physically and to be able to pull that off and in a partnership with Pat Cummins is without a doubt one of the great World Cup victories for Australia and probably for any team to witness.

At the same time, a tough one for Afghanistan. They've been excellent and, you know, probably won sort of 80 - 90% of that game. And as we know in white ball cricket, it can change quickly. And that was an amazing example of that and a special knock to watch.
Click to expand...

Yea. but i don't like the idea of asking questions unrelated to the match they are involved in. Sure you can ask about a player who is playing under the captain not someone else. These reporters ask these questions for reach. Your question should be more about how they prepare for their next encounter.
 
Pretty sure the journo could have asked a more relevant and probing question to Mendis.

Ended up embarrassing himself.
 
While the question itself wasn’t the greatest out there, Mendis could have been a bit less rude in answering this. Comes across as a bit boorish in my opinion.

In this day and age of media, all captains should be trained in handling media. I really admire Kohli for this - guy started out barely knowing to speak in English, now he is one of the most articulate people in the entire Indian cricketing history.
 
Hope Kohli humiliates and sledges the hell out of him for this. Just like what Mohd Ali said to Ernie Terrell "Whats my name again?"
 
I think stupid indian reporters get away easy even after asking such questions. For a captain whose team isn't performing well, and who couldn't practise the day before the match because of pollution, there ought to be much more on his mind than thinking about Kohli's milestones. I wud say Mendis was nice enough to laugh about it rather than actually speaking out on what he felt about such lame question.
 
Mockingbird said:
While the question itself wasn’t the greatest out there, Mendis could have been a bit less rude in answering this. Comes across as a bit boorish in my opinion.

In this day and age of media, all captains should be trained in handling media. I really admire Kohli for this - guy started out barely knowing to speak in English, now he is one of the most articulate people in the entire Indian cricketing history.
Click to expand...
Were you the reporter by any chance? Because on a thread about Lankan captain, you managed to come up with another milestone for Kohli - 'he speaks English well'. For a lot of us a cricket match can exist without Kohli as well.
 
kusal mendis is very right in saying why would congratulate Virat Kohli? Especially after 50-10 and 55-10 recently
 
Mockingbird said:
While the question itself wasn’t the greatest out there, Mendis could have been a bit less rude in answering this. Comes across as a bit boorish in my opinion.

In this day and age of media, all captains should be trained in handling media. I really admire Kohli for this - guy started out barely knowing to speak in English, now he is one of the most articulate people in the entire Indian cricketing history.
Click to expand...
Naah, Kohli always spoke good English. It's Sehwag and Harbhajan who couldn't converse in English during their early days, but learnt to somehow manage after a few years.
 
happydavy said:
Were you the reporter by any chance? Because on a thread about Lankan captain, you managed to come up with another milestone for Kohli - 'he speaks English well'. For a lot of us a cricket match can exist without Kohli as well.
Click to expand...
Haha, I get your point about inserting Kohli in this thread 😬 but that was only in relation that Mendis was rude. It is common for reporters to ask bites about other players, matches, milestones like they asked Williamson, but Mendis should have handled it with more grace. Could have made even a joke about it while dismissing it, but no- he chose to be deliberately salty about it.
 
globetrotter said:
kusal mendis is very right in saying why would congratulate Virat Kohli? Especially after 50-10 and 55-10 recently
Click to expand...
Even no current players in Pakistan team have congratulated Virat Kohli for achieving feet because they suffered heavy losses of 228 runs and 7 wickets defeats from Indian team….
 
Kusal was already frustrated with his team's performance and they still have to face NZ in the last World Cup game where CT 2025 qualification was on the line and his team cant do practice 1 day before the match due to pollution. All these factors have been there for him to reply in such a manner. Even though I don't think that there is anything wrong with the reply.
 
Kusal's response may be a result of the ICC's termination of the Sri Lankan board membership. Or is he really feeling like what he said?

-------------------------------------------

Kusal Mendis’s clarification about his response to Kohli's century:

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly. Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong,"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did,"​
 
BouncerGuy said:
Kusal's response may be a result of the ICC's termination of the Sri Lankan board membership. Or is he really feeling like what he said?

-------------------------------------------

Kusal Mendis’s clarification about his response to Kohli's century:

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly. Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong,"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did,"​
Click to expand...
No need of clarification. I am okay with the answer even if it was unintentional. Standard of press is poor.
 
Can’t believe some Indians fans are seriously offended by his response 😂

It’s a freakin’ World Cup, not your local neighborhood’s friendly tournament of uncles and teenagers with aunties making samosay and chai after the game.

He’s here to compete. While certain competitors can nod at their colleague’s work, some choose to keep that for after the competition.

If he was asked this question during any other time of the year when SL was not involved in a tournament with India, then I would understand the irritation.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Kusal's response may be a result of the ICC's termination of the Sri Lankan board membership. Or is he really feeling like what he said?

-------------------------------------------

Kusal Mendis’s clarification about his response to Kohli's century:

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly. Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong,"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did,"​
Click to expand...
Can't believe the man is giving explanations on such a silly non-issue.
 
BouncerGuy said:
Kusal's response may be a result of the ICC's termination of the Sri Lankan board membership. Or is he really feeling like what he said?

-------------------------------------------

Kusal Mendis’s clarification about his response to Kohli's century:

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly. Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong,"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did,"​
Click to expand...
Whatever clarification he can give now, but his own team batsmen taught him lesson in the match against NZ as Kusal not congratulated Kohli on his achievement
 
BouncerGuy said:
Kusal's response may be a result of the ICC's termination of the Sri Lankan board membership. Or is he really feeling like what he said?

-------------------------------------------

Kusal Mendis’s clarification about his response to Kohli's century:

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly. Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong,"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did,"​
Click to expand...

Apology accepted.

Nice that he himself realised that his response was in extremely poor taste. As an international sportsperson and an ambassador of the game he must know better.

A lot of fans on this forum rubbished this incident as nothing but that’s obviously not correct. This was an example of very bad behaviour from a representative of a cricket team at the highest level.

Like i said in my post earlier, had tk e same question been asked to Sena Nation cricketers, even if they had a feud with Kohli, they would have given a 2 minute congratulatory speech to Kohli here because that’s just what you do.

I know some of the Asian nation players are not that well trained in PR skills. The board must feel ashamed at this and must have training sessions in place on how to behave in front of mic and camera and have no more ape incidents
 
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