The Indian Cricket captain has been applauded for standing up for Steve Smith who was being booed by the crowds in the stadium during the India Australia clash on Sunday.
In a show of 'absolute class', the Indian Cricket captain Virat Kohli asked Indian fans at The Oval in London to stop booing Steve Smith, who was fielding near the boundary during the Indian innings.
The Oval was filled with Indian cricket fans with barely few to be seen in the traditional Australian gold.
The incident happened during late Indian innings when Smith was on the boundary and the section behind him started jeering at him.
Smith responded with a smile but Kohli who had heard the loud boos, utilised the time after Hardik Pandya was dismissed, to go up to the particular stands and asked the Indian cricket fans to stop booing.
Kohli waved his hands to get their attention and without saying a word gestured them to applaud the Australian cricketer and not boo him.
As the Australian team gathered in the middle to celebrate Pandya’s wicket, Kohli and Smith were seen shaking hands with the former Australian skipper giving him a smile.
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At a press conference later, Kohli who has been a fierce on-field rival and has clashed often with Smith told the reporters that Smith did not deserve to be booed.
"Look, I think what's happened has happened like long (ago) - the guy is back, he's trying to play well for his side," Kohli said.
"Even in the IPL I saw him, it's not good to see someone down like that, to be honest. We've had issues in the past. We've had a few arguments on the field.
"But you don't want to see a guy feeling that heat every time he goes out to play. What's happened has happened. Everyone has known that. He's come back. He's worked hard. He's playing well for his side now."
“So just because there are so many Indian fans here, I just didn’t want them to set a bad example, to be honest because he didn’t do anything to be booed in my opinion. He’s just playing cricket.
“He was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologised, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it, either,” he said.
Both Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for a year for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal. The duo has returned to the side but has faced continuous jeers from the crowd.
India won the game by 36 runs on Sunday handing Australians their first defeat in the World Cup.
India plays against New Zealand on Thursday.
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