The ICC awarded the Indian captain Virat Kohli with the ‘Spirit of Cricket Award’, which has come as a pleasant surprise for one of the best batsmen of his generation.

Kohli admitted at been taken aback with the award after “years of being under the scanner for the wrong things”, referring to his past flare-ups. The Indian captain was given the award for his gesture in the 2019 World Cup match against Australia when he egged the crowd on to support and not boo Steve Smith soon after his return to international cricket from a one-year suspension for ball-tampering.

It is a huge turnaround for the Indian captain from being a young and fiery Kohli, who was once fined 50% of his match fees for showing the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground the middle finger on the 2012 tour of Australia.

CWC 2019: WATCH - Virat Kohli asks Indian crowd to stop cheater chants at Steve Smith

“I’m surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things,” Kohli said in a statement issued by the ICC. “That moment was purely understanding an individual’s situation. I don’t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of,” he further added.

“That should not be a representation of our fans and what we stand as a cricketing nation, a sporting nation. We need to all take responsibility for that. Intimidate the opposition, definitely try and have an upper hand but in a matter that is not targeting someone emotionally. That is not acceptable at any level and people should be wary of that,” the Indian skipper further added.

Three years ago, Kohli had accused Steve Smith, then Australia’s captain, of cheating while using DRS during the latter’s famous brain fade moment, where Smith asked the dressing room before calling for DRS review in a Test in Bengaluru.

(PTI inputs)