GIVE SMITH A BREAK, URGES KOHLI
VIRAT Kohli has sledged thousands of Indian fans over their “unacceptable” treatment of Steve Smith with the rival captain pleading for World Cup crowds to treat the maligned batsman with respect.
Smith was loudly booed as he jogged towards the boundary to field at third man and a chant of “cheater, cheater, cheater” echoed around The Oval in London yesterday.
Kohli, who was on his way to a crisp 82 (77) at the time, waved to the Indian faithful seated in the Vauxhall Stand to grab their attention following the next ball.
Kohli then gestured to the fans to instead applaud Smith before turning around and shaking his head in disappointment at what he had witnessed.
In a twist, Kohli also embraced Smith in a brilliant display of sportsmanship between two of the cricket’s fiercest rivals.
The Indian faithful responded to Kohli’s gesture by chanting, “Kohli, Kohli, Kohli” but they failed to heed his advice as the boos continued when Smith batted in Australia’s innings.
“He didn’t do anything to be booed, in my opinion,” Kohli said.
“Because there’s so many Indian fans here, I just didn’t want them to set a bad example. He’s just playing cricket.
“He was just standing there and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologised, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it, either.
“So I just felt for him, and I told him, I’m sorry on behalf of the crowd because I’ve seen that happen in a few earlier games, as well, and in my opinion that’s not acceptable.”
India’s 5-352 proved too much for the Australians in the clash, with Smith scoring 69 runs in his side’s reply of 316.
Shikhar Dhawan was named man of the match for his 109-ball 117.