Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has criticized Indian skipper Virat Kohli for his antics in the ongoing decider test match against South Africa in Cape Town. He claimed the reaction to be “exaggerated” and termed Kohli’s behavior as “immature”.
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During the fourth innings of the third test, South African skipper Dean Elgar survived a close DRS call. Elgar was given out lbw by umpire Marius Erasmus, but the decision was overturned on review with the ball-tracking showing that the ball missed the stumps. Few of the Indian players along with Kohli expressed their displeasure about the South Africa broadcaster, SuperSport, after this decision.
Left irritated with the ball-tracking technology, Kohli walked towards the stump mic and said, “Focus on your team while they shine the ball. Not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time.”
Kohli is setting a bad example for budding cricketers: Gautam Gambhir
In a conversation with Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir criticized Kohli’s actions and said that this sort of reaction is not what you expect from an Indian skipper and that he is setting a bad example for budding cricketers.
Gambhir also pointed out a Mayank Agarwal reprieve during the first Test in Centurion, saying that Elgar didn’t react in that manner.
“This is really bad. What Kohli did, going near the stump mic and reacting in that manner, is really immature. This is not what you expect from an international captain, from an Indian captain. Then technology isn’t in your hand. Then you have reacted in the same manner when there was a caught-behind appeal on the leg-side, neither did Dean Elgar react in that manner. During that Mayank Agarwal appeal, it looked OUT from the naked eye, but Elgar did not react in that manner,” he said.
Gautam Gambhir expects Rahul Dravid to have a chat with Kohli
“No matter what you say, stuff like he plays with his heart on his sleeve, this reaction was an exaggerated one and you can’t be a role model in this manner. No budding cricketers would want to see this kind of reaction, especially from the Indian captain. No matter the result in this Test match, this is not what you expect from a Test captain who has led the team for so long. I hope Rahul Dravid has a word with him because the type of captain Dravid was, he would have never reacted in this manner.”
Speaking of the encounter, as of this moment, South Africa is well and truly in the driver’s seat and looks like India will have to wait another four years to register their maiden test series win in the rainbow nation.
Highlights:
• Gautam Gambhir criticizes Kohli for his stump mic antics during the third test.
• Dean Elgar survived a close DRS call which made Kohli and team India enraged.
