'Virat Kohli must be careful in what he says and does': David Lloyd says India captain 'has been disrespecting umpires'
David Lloyd said Virat Kohli’s suggestion that England pressurized umpire Nitin Menon to give soft-signal in their favour in the 5th T20I is doubtful but he is sure that the India captain has been ‘remonstrating with umpires throughout this tour.’
Former England cricketer David Lloyd criticized India captain Virat Kohli for batting against the ‘umpire’s call’ rule of cricket, adding that Kohli has been ‘pressuring, disrespecting’ the on-field umpires during the ongoing England’s tour of India.
Lloyd said Kohli’s suggestion that England pressurized umpire Nitin Menon to give soft-signal in their favour in the 5th T20I is doubtful but he is sure that the India captain has been ‘remonstrating with umpires throughout this tour.’
“Kohli also suggested England were pressuring umpires to give the 'soft signal' as out when Dawid Malan took a low catch in the fourth T20. Firstly, the soft signal is there to leave as much authority as possible with the on-field umpires.
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“And I don't know if England put pressure on Nitin Menon in Ahmedabad, but I do know one thing — Kohli has been pressuring, disrespecting and remonstrating with umpires throughout this tour,” Lloyd wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
Lloyd slammed the ICC for not handling the on-field altercations between the players strictly.
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“There have also been a number of altercations in India which, when copied, will permeate through every level. There was another on Tuesday near the end of the India innings. You should not confront an opposition player on the field. It's just not done. And the toothless International Cricket Council have done nothing,” he wrote.
Llyod strongly disagreed with Kohli’s stance against the umpire’s call.
"Look, I have played a long time when then there was no DRS, right? If the umpire made a decision, whether the batsman liked it or not, it stayed like that; vice-versa if the umpire gave him not out and it was out it stayed like that whether it was marginal or not," Kohli said on Monday at a media briefing in Pune ahead of the fist ODI against England.
"According to me, umpire's call right now is creating a lot of confusion. When you get bowled, as a batsman you don't expect the ball to hit more than 50% of the stumps to consider yourself bowled. So when the ball is shown as clipping the stumps, the bails are going to fall.”
Lloyd said umpires are being undermined and gave Kohli’s comments as an example.
“Umpires are being increasingly undermined in international cricket and there are players who seem to think they, rather than the officials, are running the game.
“Take Virat Kohli. Before the first ODI the India captain said umpire's call should be removed from the decision review system and if the ball is shown to be hitting any part of the stumps it should be given out.
“Kohli does not seem to have taken the consequences into account. If everything is out, including when the ball is just clipping the bails, then all Tests would be over in two days. An ODI would be over in four hours.
“Umpires have to be given their authority back. They must be handed yellow and red cards to stamp that lost authority because they look powerless. And Kohli, who has vast responsibility and influence, should be very careful in what he says and does,” Lloyd wrote in his column.