“I don’t think you need to do that kind of thing” - When Virat Kohli was called out by Steve Smith for fiery sendoff on 2016 Australia tour
Team India's ace batter Virat Kohli is famous for his fiery send-offs on the field, whether it be during his early days into the sport, his captaincy reign, or even now as a bonafide veteran across formats. Among the many aggressive, and animated celebrations post a wicket, Steve Smith found himself to be on the receiving end during India's tour of Australia in 2016.
Coming on the back of a 1-4 ODI series loss, India were determined to make amends in the T20I series. The first T20I in Adelaide witnessed Smith being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja for 21 runs, with Kohli taking the catch. The incident sparked an aggressive send-off from the Indian skipper, who made some gestures with his hand towards the batter who was walking back to the pavilion.
Kohli was even seen explaining the send-off to then-skipper MS Dhoni after the wicket, and continued to mouth off some words as Smith continued his walk. The ace batter opened up on the incident after India recorded a win to take a lead in the series.
"He (Smith) was sort of having a go at our junior bowlers -- after hitting a boundary he was having a go at them -- so I told the umpires to keep an eye out otherwise I would have to step in. They did nothing and in the end I told him that he could go talk in the change room," Kohli said to Channel Nine via rediff.com.
The match in Adelaide marked the debut of both Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.
Smith was not pleased with Kohli's antics, as he felt that the send-off crossed the line of usual banter on the field.
"I don't think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out. It's fine to have a little bit of banter when you're out in the field, but when someone's out I don't really think that's on. He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn't he?" Smith said via ESPNCricinfo.
The already-existing friction between Kohli and Smith escalated when they were leading their respective sides during the Border-Gavaskar series in 2017. The Australian skipper had infamously sought help from the dressing room regarding a DRS call, a move which he later cited as a 'brainfade'. However, Kohli was far from pleased with Smith's actions as well as the explanation.
Virat Kohli was awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for gesturing crowd to not boo Smith
A lot can change in just three years, and the manner with which the Kohli-Smith dynamic changed is proof of the same. After the Australian batter's absence from cricket due to his involvement in the infamous Sandpaper gate during the tour of South Africa, he made a return through the 2019 ODI World Cup.
He was thrown into a hostile Indian crowd at The Oval when Australia faced the Men in Blue during the 2019 ODI World Cup. Smith was subjected to chants and taunts from the crowd throughout the match. When Kohli came into bat, he intervened and gestured the crowd to not jeer the player. Smith appreciated the gesture in reply.
For the act, Virat Kohli was awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2019 as well.