Aussie media begins smear-fest; alleges Kohli threw bottle at Australian official

Aussie media begins smear-fest; alleges Kohli threw bottle at Australian official

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The controversies of the India-Australia series don't appear to be ending anytime soon as an Australian newspaper has accused Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble of improper behaviour during the Bengaluru Test. The newspaper accused Kohli of hurling a bottle which hit an Australian team official.

Following the DRS-gate during the second Test, Kohli had, in his press conference, stopped just short of calling Smith a cheat for his act of looking to the dressing room for advice on his DRS decision. During his post-match press conference, Smith, however, apologized for the incident, calling it a 'brain fade'. 

The BCCI had lodged an official complaint with the ICC on the issue on Wednesday, but in an attempt to defuse the situation, they withdrew their complaint today. Along with Cricket Australia, yesterday, the board decided to turn the focus back to cricket again. But, now it appears that the issue is not going to go away as easily after Australian newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, came up with fresh allegations today.

The Bangalore bloodbath has taken another volatile twist, with revelations Indian coach Anil Kumble stormed into the umpires room to lodge a mid-innings please explain. As Virat Kohli left a tornado of destruction behind him in the Indian dressing room, fuming he had been given out lbw, it’s understood Kumble went to seek immediate clarification from match officials as to why his irate skipper was given out at a key moment of the second Test.

Kohli might be the aggressor in the brazen campaign India is running against Australia’s integrity — even striking an Australian official with an orange Gatorade bottle — but coach Kumble, one of the main instigators of the Monkeygate fiasco, would appear to have reclaimed his role as the puppeteer behind the scenes. International coaches have access to the officials’ box, but it’s highly unusual for them to make contact mid-match, and Kumble’s actions appear indicative of India’s overall attitude that they can dictate to the law-makers of the game.

It’s understood Kumble has also made his fury known about the actions of match referee Chris Broad during the Test, complaints which are now to be passed onto the ICC by the BCCI. During the Monkeygate episode, Kumble in his role as Indian captain threw out the line to the world that caused the entire saga to explode when he questioned the integrity of Ricky Ponting’s side by saying: “Only one team is playing in the spirit of the game.”

Read the full article here.

However, the tabloid has failed to provide sources or evidence to support any of these claims, especially about Anil Kumble. One would expect a publication of any standard to substantially corroborate such damning claims about one of the finest gentlemen to have played the game.

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