International Cricket Council match referee Richie Richardson, appointed for the last two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar series, on Wednesday, met India captain Virat Kohli and Australia captain Steve Smith separately to douse the simmering tension ahead of the third Test, starting in Ranchi on Thursday, PTI reported.
Last week, ICC’s media release had stated that the match referee will bring both captains together for a chat. On Wednesday, Richardson, who has replaced Broad as per prior ICC appointment, met Kohli and Smith at Ranchi, which as a “routine affair”, the report cited sources as stating.
Asked about the ICC diktat, a well-informed Board of Control for Cricket in India source told PTI, “As per rule, the captains have a meeting with match referee before the start of the series. Both India and Australia had one with [Chris] Broad before the commencement of the series. Now the rule says that if a match referee is changed then new match referee also meets the captain before starting his assignment.”
Earlier, Smith addressed the media after meeting the former West Indies captain Richie Richardson, who works for the Elite Panel of ICC referees.
“I spoke to Richie Richardson and the other umpires just now,” Smith had said. “Basically they said cricket is the winner in the Test. Both teams turn to play within rules of the game. We always know that a series between Australia and India is fiercely contested.”
“It’s between number one and two sides in the world. They understand that, it’s just about playing within the boundaries of the game and making sure that cricket is the winner,” he added.
