Former skipper Steve Waugh has called on both India and Australia to leave behind the DRS controversy wherein Steven Smith was seen seeking dressing advice for a referral in the second Test in Bengaluru.
India vs Australia – Complete Coverage
Speaking exclusively to ANI, Waugh said, “Both the sides have used it (DRS) poorly so far. But it is really hard to use DRS on pitches that turn a long way and are up and down. It’s very hard to judge the trajectory of the ball. Both skippers and teams have been struggling with that.”
“We just need to move on. Smith admitted that he made a mistake and the umpire stepped in to solve the issue pretty quickly which I thought was a really good thing.”
“But Virat has made some comments after that. He is a passionate guy, he loves playing for India and he is entitled as captain of India to make a comment but now you should douse the flames and let’s get on with it, look forward to the two Test matches coming ahead because this by far is the best Test series I have seen,” Waugh added.
The incident took place in the 21st over of the Australia’s second innings on Day Four when Smith was trapped LBW by pacer Umesh Yadav, a delivery that went underground and struck the former just above his left boot in front of middle stump.
Having already blown a DRS call, involving David Warner, the Australians were in a fix on whether to seek another for Smith.
The Australian skipper first turned to non-striker Peter Handscomb’s end to discuss the merit of reviewing umpire Nigel Llong’s decision but were quickly denied a referral when the latter spotted both batsmen looking in the direction of the dressing room.
Screen grab of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli during the press conference
Following the incident, Smith, in the post-match press conference, said that it was ‘brain fade’ whereas Kohli said there’s “a line that you don’t cross on the cricket field,” and he would have never done that.
In the post match press conference, Kohli taking a dig at Smith, on Tuesday said, “There are loopholes in every technology and system. There are no two ways about it. People are bound to make mistakes. At the moment the call that’s made on the field stays and that’s what everyone has been playing and there’s been a few instances where it’s been a little tricky, it’s been doubtful for people to understand what’s exactly going on.”
“Benefit of the doubt, which used to go out towards the batsman before, has now seems to have got out of the window.”
“We have also not been that consistent while taking the right DRS calls and I think we need to get better with that but one thing is that we take our decisions on the field ourselves. We don’t ask for confirmation upstairs. So, I think that one thing that’s pretty consistent with us,” he added.
The 28-year-old Indian skipper further said that he himself saw players of the visiting team looking up to the dressing room and asking for confirmation whether they should take the DRS or not.
“I saw that two times happening when I was batting. I pointed it out to the umpire as well that it has happened twice that I have seen their players looking upstairs for confirmation and that’s why the umpire was at him (Smith),” he said.
“When he turned back, the umpire knew what he was doing because we had observed that and we told that to match referee also and the umpires that this has been going for the past three days and this has to stop.”
“Because there’s a line that you don’t cross on the cricket field, sledging and playing against the opponents is different but I don’t want to mention the word but it falls in that bracket,” he added.
When asked if the word was ‘cheating’, Kohli said, “I am not saying that, you are saying that word.”
He also asserted that he would have never done something like that on the cricket field.
Meanwhile, Smith apologised for his behaviour and said it was wrong on his part to look at the dressing room and he regretted doing the same.
“It was a bit of a brain fade and I shouldn’t have done that,” Smith also said at the presser.
The Virat Kohli-led side defeated the visitors by 75 runs and leveled the four-match series 1-1.
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