Virat Kohli and Steve Smith used to fierce rivals but that equation has lately changed for the better, at least in terms of their equation off the field. The two star batsmen have admitted they share a friendly relation and a part of it was visible during the India-Australia World Cup match last year at The Oval.
Crowd around the world had not yet warmed up to Smith, who had recently returned to playing cricket after serving a 12-month ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in a Test match against South Africa in Capetown in March of 2018. At the Oval, Smith who was fielding at third man, was constantly jeered by fans, who kept chanting ‘cheater’ from the stands.
It did not go down well with Kohli, who was batting. Upon completing a single, the India captain in a wonderful gesture, looked towards the crown and asked the Indian fans to applaud Smith. The two players even shook hands and embraced each other at the end of the Over while changing sides.
Kohli’s gesture earned him praise from the cricket fraternity, including one from Smith, who acknowledged the India skipper by calling him a ‘terrific guy’ and lauding his captaincy.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli’s gesture earned him praise from the cricket fraternity, including one from Smith, who acknowledged the India skipper by calling him a ‘terrific guy’ and lauding his captaincy.
{{/usCountry}}“Virat’s gesture in the World Cup to the Indian fans that were giving me (Smith) and David Warner little bit of a stick, I appreciated that and I share that with him straight up,” Smith said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
“He is a terrific guy and the way he has led the Indian team has been amazing. They are an amazing side and can’t wait to play them when they come out to Australia this year, will be something incredibly special.”
Things between Kohli and Smith were not at its best when Australia had toured India in 2017 to play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The two players constantly used to be at each other’s throats. Before the start of the series, Kohli had declared that he was “really good friends” with some of the Australian cricketers, but by the India had emerged victorious in a pretty-heated series, the India captain said that equation had “changed for sure.”
But of late, things have been pretty smooth. About his gesture at World Cup, Kohli had said that he didn’t Smith had done anything to deserve the boos and that if it was about the ball-tampering scandal, the former Australia captain had served his punishment. It’s been a year since that incident but Smith hasn’t forgotten.
“I had few conversations with him (Virat) off the field, few messages here and there in recent times just to see how things are going in India. He is a terrific guy and we both play hard out on the field and play as well for our respective teams and its part of the game,” Smith said.