Wasn’t Fair For Crowd To Boo Steve Smith In 2019 World Cup: Virat Kohli

Dec 16, 2020 at 5:49 PM

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Wasn’t Fair For Crowd To Boo Steve Smith In 2019 World Cup: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith came together for an informal chat on the eve of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval in which they spoke on a range of topics including the incident involving the former Australian captain at the 2019 World Cup in England where he participated after one year ban for an alleged ball-tampering offence.

The match in question was the one between India and Australia at The Oval in London in 2019 World Cup when Virat Kohli asked a section of the Indian fans to stop booing Steve Smith, who was fielding on the boundary line.

Virat Kohli and Steven Smith
Virat Kohli and Steven Smith (Image Credit: Google)

Virat Kohli Feels It’s Not Fair To Target An Individual Personally

Virat Kohli, who even apologized to Steve Smith on behalf of the uncontrollable crowd after the game, won the Spirit of Cricket award at the ICC awards in January 2020 for his gesture which was praised by the cricketing fraternity.

Virat Kohli said he just acted instinctively while talking about the incident when he urged the crowd to stop having a go at Steve Smith as he felt it wasn’t right to target an individual personally as he learnt from past mistakes.

“I feel like in life nothing can be that permanent that you carry it on for life. People make mistakes and they learn from it and I felt like it’s not fair to target an individual personally, that’s what I felt at that moment.”

“Instinctively I told them not to boo you because you were fielding there (on the boundary) for quite a bit. As much as you play against each other there’s a human side to things as well and at the end of the day we’re here chatting now, we do have a chat a few times during the IPL as well.”

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith
Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. Image Credit: Getty Images.

“Yes, you’re competitive on the field but you don’t want to go nasty as such. Long term you do realize the importance of things from a larger perspective and I felt that wasn’t right to do that at that moment,” Virat Kohli told Smith, who reciprocated the Indian captain’s gesture by sending him a message after the game to thank him.

In 2019 World Cup, India beat Australia by 36 runs after India scored 352/5 with opener Shikhar Dhawan scoring a match-winning century. His 117 coupled with Virat Kohli’s 82 was too tough for Australians who were dismissed after scoring 316. Steve Smith, David Warner and Alex Carey scored the fifties but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah picked 3 wickets apiece to end Australia’s hopes.

Steve Smith Was Unfazed By Noise As Both He And David Warner Were Booed By Fans After International Cricket Return Post Ban

Steve Smith and David Warner were suspended for a year and had to deal with many incidents of the crowd booing them in England as they were jeered by fans for the first few months, at the World Cup and during the 2019 Ashes, after they resumed playing international cricket post their ball-tampering bans.

But Steve Smith, Australian batting mainstay said he was unfazed by all the noise off the field and took it as a challenge to answer by performing well with the bat.

“There was a lot of negative stuff towards me when I first came back and I like to prove people wrong, so it’s kind of like ‘You guys are booing me, screw you.”

David Warner and Steven Smith.
David Warner and Steven Smith. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

“I’m going to try and do whatever I can to either keep you quiet or make you come at me even more’. I just want to perform and entertain,” Steve Smith said.

Steve Smith amassed 379 runs in 10 games averaging 37.9 in 2019 World Cup which was his first ODI appearance since playing 5 ODIs against England at Australia in January 2018. David Warner had a successful 2019 World Cup amassing 647 runs averaging a staggering 71.89 in 10 games. He hit 3 tons in his first series post the 5 ODIs at home against England in 2018 like Steve Smith.

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