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Watch: Virat Kohli bursts into laughter after Steve Smith's 'sheepish' DRS call 'embarrasses' Australia in 3rd ODI
Virat Kohli could not help but break into laughter seeing replays on the big screen following Steve Smith's ‘embarrassing’ DRS call.
DRS calls are always tricky, especially when it is against a high-profile opposition batter like Virat Kohli. The sheer weight the wicket of someone like Kohli's can at times force opposition captains to take a review more in hope. Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith did exactly that during the third ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday. Smith has had a mixed bag as far as DRS is concerned in this India tour. He fluffed a few times during the Test series but also trusted his instincts and the judgements of his keeper Alex Carey to get crucial breakthroughs using the review.
In the series-deciding ODI, however, it did not pan out as planned for Smith and Australia. It happened in the 10th over of India's chase. Australia pacer Sean Abbott got one to shape away from Kohli. The ball appeared to have missed Kohli's outside edge but the Australian players thought otherwise. They went up in vociferous appeal. The umpire gave it not out. Smith, however, seemed confident. After a brief discussion with a few of the close-in fielders, he signalled for DRS.
When all this was happening, Kohli had a wry smile on his face, almost indicating that he had no bat on it. When the replays were shown, everyone understood the reasons behind Kohli's smile. The former India captain was nowhere near the ball. There was such a big gap between Kohl's bat and the ball that the third umpire did not even feel the need to take the help of the ultra edge. He straightaway asked on-field umpire Nitin Menon to stay with his decision of not out.
The look on the Australian players' faces narrated the whole story. In commentator Sanjay Manjrekar's words, they had a 'sheepish' 'slightly embarrassed' smile on their faces. Kohli could not help but break into laughter seeing replays on the big screen.
WATCH VIDEO: Virat Kohli's reaction to Steve Smith's horrendous review
Smith did not take much time to recover. A couple of overs later Shubman Gill was given not out on the field off Adam Zampa. Carey was adamant that it had hit his pad first. He insisted Smith take the DRS, the stand-in skipper obliged and Australia got a big breakthrough.
Earlier, a fine opening spell by Hardik Pandya and a probing effort by Kuldeep Yadav put a tight leash around Australian batters before its tail wagged considerably to take the visitors to a fighting 269 all out in 49 overs.
While Pandya (3/44 in 8 overs) shaved off the top half, Kuldeep's (3/56 in 10 overs) rhythm and guile on a helpful Chennai track was the biggest takeaway as the latter's delivery to remove Alex Carey was the ball of the series.
