ICC leniency in India baffles Faf

Faf du Plessis is confused by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) lack of action over the behaviour of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in the Bangalore Test last week.

Kohli’s escalating aggression reached tipping point after Smith tried to seek visual advice from the Australian dressingroom on whether he should review his leg-before decision.

Kohli rushed towards the umpires‚ Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth‚ screaming his objection to Smith’s transgression of the regulations with almost comical menace.

By then‚ Llong had admonished Smith‚ who was leaving the ground.

Later‚ Kohli stopped just short of accusing Smith‚ who admitted his guilt‚ of cheating.

The ICC tends to take a dim view of displays of poor conduct‚ but not this time.

“We have just witnessed a magnificent game of Test cricket where players from both teams gave their all and emotions were running high‚” CE David Richardson said.

“We would encourage both teams to focus their energies on the third Test in Ranchi.

“Ahead of that‚ the match referee will bring both captains together to remind them of their responsibilities to the game.”

Did that surprise Du Plessis‚ considering Richardson himself charged SA’s captain with balltampering during the tour to Australia in November?

“I was [surprised]‚ purely from the reason of what I went through for something I feel was a lot smaller and a lot less‚” Du Plessis said on Sunday.

Richardson took action after footage emerged of Du Plessis shining the ball using fingers that he had wet with spit taken from his mouth‚ in which what looked like a sweet was clearly visible.

Du Plessis was found guilty of contravening the prohibition on using artificial substances to polish the ball and fined half his match fee.

Du Plessis saw inconsistencies in the way the ICC dealt with him compared with Kohli and Smith.

“It was different and I’m surprised‚” Du Plessis said. “I felt that I was treated very harshly‚ and when you see something like that you hope that it would be exactly the same.”

But he was confident the monster that “Mintgate” became — largely because of Du Plessis’ refusal to accept his guilt — would not be repeated in New Zealand.

“Us and New Zealand are very similar in the way we play‚” Du Plessis said.

“We respect each other on and off the field and we play a similar brand of cricket.

“We don’t see that the way you carry on on the field will have an effect on the outcome.

“When you play teams like India and Australia that can happen and it’s easy to see how that can blow up.

“It would have been interesting to see how the Australian media would have reacted to me doing that.”

It was unclear whether he was talking about Smith’s or Kohli’s behaviour. /