Watch | Smith and Maxwell mock injured Virat Kohli

03/18/2017

Sportsmanship took a backseat in the ongoing Ranchi Test as Glenn Maxwell mocked the injured Virat Kohli by holding his shoulders after saving a boundary at the ropes. Kohli, who picked up a shoulder injury, showed great temperament to come out to bat but was dismissed for mere 6 runs.

Virat Kohli has led the Indian team with elan in this series but has failed to make a direct contribution to the team in terms of runs. His batting contributions so far have been contrary to his form coming into the series. The Indian captain scored four Test double-centuries in the four consecutive Test series before the Australia series.

While the poor shot selection has been the cause of Kohli’s undoing in this series so far, he picked up a shoulder injury at the wrong time - before batting on the best wicket in the series. But he put the pain to bury and came out to bat after the dismissal of Murali Vijay.

Maxwell, who saved a boundary for his team after chasing the ball all the way to the ropes mocked Kohli by holding his shoulder while grinning the entire time. The gesture points the finger towards the spirit of the Aussies, who have already been in the firing line for their antics in this series. The DRS controversy in the Bengaluru Test may have happened due to ‘Brain-fade’, but to mock an injured player is well - pathetic. The series has been one of the best in recent times but it appears that the Aussies don't want it to be remembered that way. Cricket needs to be played in the right way and well, this is not that way.

From the Editor : The article has been changed after new evidence came to light that Smith had not in anyway mocked the Kohli after the latter's dismissal. There is conclusive evidence to show that, after Kohli was dismissed, the image doing the rounds on social media with Smith having a hand on his shoulder was actually Handscomb's hand on his captain's shoulder. We apologize for failing to spot it initially.