One of the constant features of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup in England has been the hostile reception meted out to Australia’s Steve Smith and David Warner. And when it happened again as India took on Australia at The Oval, London on Sunday, captain Virat Kohli took it upon himself to ask the fans to applaud Smith instead of booing him.
You can check what Kohli had to say about the incident after the match here.
When Smith moved to the boundary line to field during India’s innings and greeted with boos at a stadium that had majority fans in blue, Kohli was batting in the middle. In between overs, he walked towards that stand, waved to the fans and gestured them to clap at Smith and not boo him. Smith was shown thanking Kohli after that incident.
Also read: Kohli’s exhibition of grace towards Smith was extraordinary in more ways than one
The Indian captain spoke about it after the match as well:
#ViratKohli in PC on crowd booing Steve Smith: “He has apologised, and come back. He has been down. It is not okay to boo & didn’t want Indian crowd to set a bad example. He doesn’t deserve to be booed. So I apologised to him on behalf of the crowd.” #IndvAus #IndvsAus #CWC19
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) June 9, 2019
Kohli: What's happened has happened, not good to see a guy down like that. Had our issues but he wasn't doing anything wrong, if that happened to me, I had said sorry & was booed, would have felt bad. Said sorry to him on behalf of crowd (Re fans booing Smith)#CWC19 #INDvAUS
— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) June 9, 2019
Kohli’s gesture won him plenty of plaudits on social media.
Of all the things in the match, Kolhi rebuking the crowd for booing Smith will remain the highlight for me
— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) June 9, 2019
Wow. How good is this from Virat Kohli? Steve Smith is sent to field on the boundary, and immediately cops the most hideous boos from the Indian fans. So Kohli turns to that stand and gestures for them to clap Smith. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/GBTPaolOXh
— Sam Landsberger 🗯 (@SamLandsberger) June 9, 2019
Nice from Kohli. Steven Smith was booed at the third man fence, but as soon as Pandya was caught at mid off, Kohli signalled the fans in that stand to clap for Smith and the crowd obliged. #CWC19 #INDvAUS
— jigar mehta (@jigsactin) June 9, 2019
Crowd at The Oval boos Steve Smith's entry. Virat Kohli clearly not impressed, asks them to stop. Nice. #IndvAus
— Karthik Lakshmanan (@lk_karthik) June 9, 2019
Respect for Kohli 🙏 When Indian fans were chanting cheater cheater to Steve Smith, This was the reaction of Kohli.. #CWC19 #INDvAUS #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/E3TVFKnxLx
— Usman 🇵🇰 (@Usman_account) June 9, 2019
[#SpiritOfCricket] Virat Kohli turned to the stand where Steve Smith was fielding in the deep & gestured the fans to cheer for him when he saw them booing Steve in a hideous manner. @BCCI @ICC @cricketworldcup #ViratKohli #TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NbpXNoQXTn
— Saksham Alag (@saksham_alag) June 9, 2019
Great sportsmanship earlier by Virat Kohli which was appreciated by Steve Smith - telling the Indian fans to stop booing Smith when he was fielding on the boundary #INDvAUS #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/fehhWKD0fn
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) June 9, 2019
Kohli asked the Indian crowd to applaud Steve Smith. An excellent gesture knowing Kohli and Smith have had a lot of friction between them earlier. This was followed by a friendly handshake between them.
— Shubh AggarWall (@shubh_chintak) June 9, 2019
What a moment. You gotta love Virat Kohli. #INDvsAUS #CWC19
Australia head coach Justin Langer had earlier called on fans to show Smith and David Warner respect in the World Cup and not jeer them.
The pair, who both recently completed bans for ball-tampering, were given a hostile reception by the crowd at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton during Australia’s World Cup warm-up victory over England and in subsequent matches as well.
There were audible boos, jeers, and chants of “cheat”, but Langer had urged supporters not to repeat that behaviour during the tournament itself.
“You (the media) talk about earning respect, and I think it’s really important that people show respect as well,” Langer had said ahead of five-time winners Australia’s World Cup opener against Afghanistan
In the first innings, Shikhar Dhawan’s 17th ODI hundred (117 off 109 balls) was well complemented by fellow opener Rohit Sharma’s 57 off 70 balls with the openers raising a stand of 127. India posted the highest score (352/5) by any team against Australia in the tournament’s history.
The ever-consistent Kohli (82 off 77 balls) played an effective knock and shared a 92-run stand with Dhawan. Kohli’s sixes off Mitchell Starc – over long-on and extra cover – stood out.
The last 10 overs yielded India 116 runs, primarily due to Hardik Pandya’s whirlwind knock of 48 from 27 balls and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 27-run cameo.
