Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. General Rajiv Ghai, during a press briefing on Monday, named Virat Kohli as his favourite cricketer, following the star batter’s retirement from Test cricket. Ghai also drew a fascinating parallel between cricket and national defence while explaining India’s multi-layered air-defence system.Kohli, who ended a glittering 14-year Test career, amassed 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85.Addressing the current situation along the India-Pakistan border, Lt. General Ghai—joined by Director General Air Operations Air Marshal AK Bharti and Director General of Naval Operations Vice Admiral AN Pramod—highlighted the robustness of India’s air-defence system using a cricket analogy from the legendary 1974-75 Ashes series.Drawing from the fierce rivalry between England and Australia, he recalled how the Australian pace duo of Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee wreaked havoc on England’s batting line-up, taking a combined 58 wickets to help Australia win the series 4-1.
“Aaj shayad cricket ki baat bhi karni chahiye, kyuki mai dekh raha tha Virat Kohli ne Test cricket se retirement leli. Kayi bharatiyo ki tarah mere bhi favourite cricketer hain (Maybe today I should talk about cricket too, because I saw that Virat Kohli has retired from Test cricket. Like many Indians, he is my favourite cricketer as well.),” said Lt. General Ghai.He continued, “In 1970’s Australia and England were squaring off in the Ashes series. The Aussies had two fast bowlers Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee who completely destroyed the English batting line up. At that time, Australia coined a phrase — ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thommo don’t get ya, Lillee surely must.’”
Using this analogy to underline the effectiveness of India’s defence strategy, Ghai explained how multiple layers of the country’s air-defence grid work in tandem to neutralize aerial threats. “If you see the layers, you’ll understand what I am trying to say. Even if you crossed all the layers, one of the layers of this grid system will hit you,” he added.
