Cricket is not a sport, it is an emotion for most of the Indians. And with the 2019 Cricket World Cup going on, fans are more than excited for all the matches. India’s first match in this series was against South Africa and the Men In Blue comfortably won it. India played their second match against Australia yesterday and won that too!
During the match, the stands at The Oval were full of fans who were rooting for their favourite teams. But with all the cheer, there was also some booing. During the first innings of the game, while the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli was batting, Australian player Steve Smith was fielding at the boundary. Since he was there, he was closer to the spectators and they started shouting ‘cheater’ looking at him. For those who don’t know, last year, Smith was banned for a year because his infamous ball tampering controversy. When Kohli noticed this, he immediately gestured the crows to stop booing him and asked them to cheer instead.
Watch the video below:
With India fans giving Steve Smith a tough time fielding in the deep, @imVkohli suggested they applaud the Australian instead.
Absolute class 👏 #SpiritOfCricket #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/mmkLoedxjr
— ICC (@ICC) June 9, 2019
Smith appreciated Kohli’s gesture and million of his fans were all praises for him. And among all the people praising him was also Anushka Sharma. The Dil Dhadakne Do actress took to her Instagram stories and wrote, “Aggressive player, benevolent man – so easy to love,” with a heart emoji for her hubby.
Check it out:
During a post-match press conference, Kohli spoke about the incident.
He said:
It’s not good to see someone down like that. To be honest, we have had issues in the past, we have had a few arguments on the filed, but you don’t want to see a guy feeling that heat every time he goes out to play.
He also added saying he bad for Smith and apologised to him on behalf of the crowd.
Below is the video:
“If I was in a position where something had happened with me, and I’d apologised and accepted it, and came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it either.”#ViratKohli on why he asked the fans to stop booing Steve Smith. #CWC19 | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/CIMicjoSA0
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 9, 2019
We’re so proud of you, Virat Kohli!