Australia’s top-order batsman Steve Smith has finally opened up about the heartwarming gesture of the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli during the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales last year. Virat Kohli was recently honored with the ‘Spirit Of Cricket’ award from ICC because of the same gesture.
Well, during the 2019 World Cup when he backed Steven Smith by egging the crowd to support Australia’s captain Steve Smith instead of booing him soon after his return to international cricket from a one-year suspension for the ball-tampering scandal,
Steve Smith has finally broken his silence on Virat Kohli’s gesture. He said:
“In the World Cup it was really nice of Virat (Kohli) to do what he did. He did not have to do that and yeah it was a lovely gesture and really appreciated that,”
Steve Smith also showered praises on Virat Kohli for his consistent performances. Calling him “terrific” and an “incredible player”, Steve Smith said Virat will be breaking many records. He said:
“Yeah, he is terrific. His batting numbers just speak for themselves. I think he’s an incredible player in all three formats and I think we will see him break many records. He’s already broken plenty of them and I see him breaking many more over the years. He has got the hunger for runs and doesn’t stop getting them. Hopefully he can stop getting them against Australia, that’ll be nice.”
Recently,
a video of Virat Kohli was posted by ICC, where he can be seen revealing the reason why he backed Steve Smith during that time. Explaining the reason why he backed Steve, he said:
“That moment was purely understanding an individual’s situation. I don’t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of.”
He added:
“That should not be a representation of our fans and what we stand as a cricketing nation, a sporting nation. “We need to all take responsibility towards that. Intimidate the opposition, definitely try and have an upper hand but in a matter that is not targeting someone emotionally. “That is not acceptable at any level and people should be wary of that.”
