Mitchell Johnson takes a jibe at Virat Kohli's promise of sledge-free series

Retired Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has taken a jibe at Indian skipper Virat Kohli with a hilarious tweet ahead of India's upcoming tour of Australia.

Fox Cricket tweeted an update from Virat Kohli's press conference ahead of Indian team's departure to Australia. The captain has expressed his intentions at looking forward to a smooth Australian series without any verbal battle on the field despite the history of controversies between the two teams.

In reply to Fox Cricket's tweet, Johnson replied, "I look forward to no Virat send offs".

🤣 I look forward to no Virat send offs 🤥

— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) November 15, 2018

Kohli's was involved in a famous controversy in Australia with Johnson during the Test match at MCG in 2014. The left-arm pacer threw a ball back to the striker's end and hit the Indian captain which triggered verbal exchanges between the two players. Kohli later claimed that he didn't feel respected by any of the Australian players.

Ahead of India's departure to Australia, Kohli mentioned in his press conference that his team will look to be aggressive on the field but will not initiate any verbal battle.

"When it comes to getting engaged in an argument on the field, or in a fight as people want to call it excitedly, I have been completely okay playing without an altercation."

Kohli also asserted that he is very confident about his ability to perform consistently and doesn't need any verbal battle to raise his game. However, he insinuated that they are ready to play fire with fire in the upcoming series.

"If they want to play a certain way we will reciprocate in that way, that's how the game of cricket goes."

On the other hand, the Australian team is also going through a change in the way they play since the ball tampering incident in South Africa which saw Steven Smith and David Warner banned for 12 months. Captain Tim Paine and head coach Justin Langer are leading the process of bringing a cultural change in the Australian dressing room.

It will be interesting to see how the tour goes as the Indian captain has already vouched for a smooth series and the Australians are undergoing a rebuilding phase.

India begin their tour of Australia with a three-match T20I series. The first of those matches will take place on the 21st at the Gabba.