Virat Kohli has been pressuring & disrespecting umpires throughout this tour: David Lloyd
Former England cricketer David Lloyd has once again called out Virat Kohli for his behavior with the umpires. Lloyd termed Kohli's behavior with the umpires as 'disrespectful', adding that the Indian skipper looks to put pressure on the umpires whenever possible.
Virat Kohli recently raised questions over the soft signal rule in the wake of Dawid Malan's controversial catch to dismiss Suryakumar Yadav in the 4th T20I between India and England. Lloyd has now reacted to Kohli's comments, saying the soft signal gave the on-field umpires 'as much authority as possible'.
"Virat Kohli also suggested England were pressuring umpires to give the 'soft signal' as out when Dawid Malan took a low catch in the fourth T20. Firstly, the soft signal is there to leave as much authority as possible with the on-field umpires. And I don't know if England put pressure on Nitin Menon in Ahmedabad, but I do know one thing — Kohli has been pressuring, disrespecting and remonstrating with umpires throughout this tour," Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
Instead of the soft signal, the Indian skipper suggested introducing an "I don't know call" for on-field umpires when they were unsure about certain decisions. Along with Kohli, many experts and former cricketers have also raised questions over the soft signal rule.
"Virat Kohli does not seem to have taken the consequences into account" - David Lloyd
Virat Kohli raised questions about the 'umpire's call' as well, saying it creates a lot of 'confusion'. However, David Lloyd believes that if the batsman is given out every time, even if the ball just clips the bails, then Test matches will finish within two days.
"Kohli does not seem to have taken the consequences into account. If everything is out, including when the ball is just clipping the bails, then all Tests would be over in two days. An ODI would be over in four hours. Bowlers known for their accuracy like Jimmy Anderson, Josh Hazlewood and Jasprit Bumrah would be taking eight wickets every innings," Lloyd explained while backing the 'umpire's call' rule.
India have taken a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series, winning the first match by 66 runs. The second ODI will be played on March 26.