Indian captain Virat Kohli was not happy when his South African counterpart Dean Elgar survived a clean LBW decision after taking the DRS review on day 3 of the ongoing third Test match. The review showed that though the ball hit Elgar’s pad in the middle of stumps, Hawkeye suggested that it would have bounced over the stumps.
This led to Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and R Ashwin using the stump mics to vent their feelings with Ashwin and Kohli taking a dig at the broadcasters Supersport. Livid with the DRS decision, a visibly irked Kohli went up to the stumps and said: "Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball eh, not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time."
“It’s the whole country against 11 guys,” said KL Rahul, while Ashwin slammed the broadcaster: "You should find better ways to win, SuperSport."
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan called this behavior from Indian cricketers disgraceful and said that ICC must not let this slide and take immediate action.
SA v IND 2021-22: Virat Kohli sledges Rassie van der Dussen over his verbal spat with Pant
“I think that is disgraceful from the Indians personally. Decisions go with you, they go against you, that didn’t go the way they think it should have gone.
Virat Kohli is a legend of the game, but that’s not the way to act, that is not the way to act in a game of Test match cricket. The ICC have to stamp this down, they have to stamp down on the Indian side, you can’t get away with talking down the stump microphone like Ravi Ashwin has done and the Indian captain has done,” Michael Vaughan said on Fox Sports coverage of the Ashes.
Though his fellow commentator Shane Warne suggested that the ball might have hit the stumps, Vaughan remained steadfast on his opinion and said: “Virat can’t act like that Warnie.”
Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist, on the other hand, opined that the Indian skipper's frustration was "brewing" until it reached a point of no return.
“That accusation there I am interested in Warnie, this seems a bit premeditated, and this has been building or brewing…. and it has got to a breaking point. That accusation about filming teams shining the ball I am assuming it goes all the way back to that very ground when the Australians were caught out on camera," said Gilchrist.
Meanwhile, Shane Warne condemned what Virat Kohli said on the stump mic given that he was captain of an international cricket team.
“Look it is an interesting one, I am not sure that should be happening from a captain of an international team. But sometimes frustration overflows, you just get so frustrated and that’s why I said I wonder if that has happened three or four times through the series, and that was like okay that is enough now we can’t have it anymore," he said.
