Michael Clarke praises Virat Kohli for attending Phil Hughes' funeral

New Delhi: The relationship between Indian and Australian cricketers are not that bad. After the infamous DRS controversy, cricketers – past and present — from either camp continue to share their mutual respect for each other.

Former Aussie captain Michael Clarke on Tuesday revealed that he has "utmost respect" for Indian captain Virat Kohli for attending the funeral of Phillip Hughes.

"The way (Virat) handled that situation, he came for the funeral and had some of the Indian players too. I have utmost respect for him because of that.

"This is clearly above the game of cricket and they didn't need to postpone the game. They could not have turned up for the funeral. They didn't have to do anything that they did. I will always remember that," Clarke said at the launch of his autobiography titled "My Story" in Kolkata yesterday.

The first of the four Tests of the 2014 series Down Under was postponed from December 4 to December 9 in Adelaide because of the funeral.

In an unfortunate incident, Hughes was hit in the neck by a bouncer from Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25.

"It's still very emotional for me to talk about. The incident is one of the reasons for me to write the book. To get through that period, I spent that time writing it to show his family and the world how I feel. I feel it a big part of my responsibility to be Australian cricket captain and lead from the front for my teammate," Clarke added.

The blow caused a vertebral artery dissection that led to a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Hughes had died in a Sydney hospital two days later. He was 25.

"Apart from that, it's a big responsibility as one of Phillip's closest friends to be there for his family and for his other friends. I don't think I did anything different than he would have done for me if I had been in his position. It took me longer to accept he is not there. I still have his mobile phone number in my phone. It's still very hard for me to fathom that he is no longer with us.”