Well, that is exactly what it seems has happened. The purest form or cricket in general is considered to be a Gentleman’s game. But in the ongoing India vs Australia potboiler we have seen everything apart from good, gentle mannerisms. It has been fiery, fiesty and a riveting contest between two quality cricket nation. As the series heats up further and we head east to serene Ranchi, India will easily carry momentum and advantage. They were battered in Pune, they conceded a 87 run lead yet came back from there to square-off the series is great stuff. Both teams have ample quality and such competition is expected. But what happened on the ground was sheer cheating on Australian captain Steven Smith’s part. To make this worse, Peter Handscomb has made a false claim that he has asked his captain to look at the dressing room.
Virat Kohli, on the other hand has gone on to say him a cheat, almost. In the most explosive press conference Virat Kohli was agitated and he was upfront in saying that he had seen Smith doing it many more times during the course of the match. He just fell short of calling him a cheat. The BCCI too has backed the leader Virat Kohli over this and has asked ICC to come down hard at Steven Smith and punish him for the same.
Earlier in the day, ICC boss Dave Richardson in a press release cleared both the captains without any actions being taken against them.
But it seems the aura of the ICC World No. 1 has bitten the ICC has well. In a statement released today, ICC has given Steven Smith and Virat Kohli a clean chit, which raise a few question like.
Has ICC been soft on dealing Steven Smith’s DRS gate?
Why have they even mentioned Virat Kohli’s name in their statement?
Has BCCI lost a big say at the ICC Headquarters?
Could the match referee have taken a bolder step, without the interception of ICC?
