The former Aussie international, Mitchell Johnson is one the fiercest bowlers to have stepped foot on the cricket field. The left-handed speedster’s aggressive approach and rocket-like deliveries turned out to be nightmares for even the very best. Marked by the fire in his eyes and throbbing veins, Johnson was one of Australia’s most deadly weapons during the Ashes.
The bowler was part of numerous on the field altercations, but his banters with leading batsmen in the name of Virat Kohli, and Joe Root grabbed a million eyeballs during his Test career. However, speaking about the sledges on the field, Johnson recalls his chapter with Stuart Broad is the only one that is still fresh in his mind.
“Stuart Broad had a dig at me once when I was batting at the non-striker’s end,” Johnson wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
“You’ve lost it mentally,’ he said, ‘you’re still the same’. “He tried to put me off my game – and I did not mind that, in fact, I like it about the game. As long as it is not personal,” he added.
“Virat Kohli used to bite back a bit, Joe Root would smile, but Broad’s comments are about all the sledging I can remember in Ashes cricket,” said Johnson.
Johnson crushed the Englishmen in the 2013-14 campaign which led Australia to perform a 5-0 clean sweep over England. However, his journey has not been an easy one, as he was taken upon by the Barmy Army in 2009.
“In the first half (of my career), I used to drop my shoulders, and that would tell the batsmen in the middle – and the ones waiting in the changing room – that something was wrong,” Johnson wrote.
“In the second half of my career, I learned it was all about good body language.” added the Aussie. “I would puff my chest out, keep my head up, and if the batsman got any inside edge or something, I would let him know he was lucky.”
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