The International Cricket Council (ICC) said statement that it will not charge any player from the Bengaluru Test match between India and Australia. There was high drama in the middle of some great cricket as Australian captain Steve Smith was criticised by his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli for trying to bend the DRS rules when he waited for instructions from the dressing room over whether he should call for a review of his dismissal in the second innings.
“Specifically in relation to Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, the ICC has considered both incidents in the context of this match and concluded it will be taking no further action against either player,” the ICC release said.
Steve Smith apologised in the post match press conference, saying the incident was a ‘brain fade’ on his part. But Indian captain Virat Kohli hit back by saying that he was not ready to accept Steve Smith’s apology as he had seen such incidents happen more than once in the course of the Test match.
The incident snowballed into a controversy when the respective boards, players and coaches came out in support of either captain. ICC on its part as the game’s governing body has decided to douse the fire in the middle of a series which has so far witnessed great cricketing action. The release though did state the fact that both captains will be ‘reminded of their responsibilities ahead of the next Test in Ranchi.’
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said “We have just witnessed a magnificent game of Test cricket where players from both teams gave their all and emotions were running high during and after the match.
“We would encourage both teams to focus their energies on the third Test in Ranchi next week. Ahead of that, the match referee will bring both Captains together to remind them of their responsibilities to the game,” as quoted by the ICC release.
This post was published on March 9, 2017 6:32 pm