Steve Smith's act was totally against the spirit of the game: Kapil Dev

Former Indian captain, Kapil dev lashed out at the Australian captain Steven Smith, who tried to get some help from the dressing room for his Leg Before Wicket (LBW) decision.

The former Indian all-rounder congratulated the Indian team and said that it is one of finest wins for the team in recent times, tweeting as below.

“Best victory in recent times. Congratulations @imVkohli @ImIshant @ashwinravi99 @y_umesh @ajinkyarahane88 @imjadeja. So proud #INDvsAUS”

Furthermore, he condemned the Australian Captain for trying to seek help from the dressing room to whether he should go for a review or not and felt that it was against the spirit of the game.

“Also, it was so disappointing seeing Australian team’s captain behaviour on field today. Totally against the spirit of this game.”

Indian Captain Virat Kohli was fuming with anger when Smith turned towards dressing room and told the on-field umpire about it. Nigel Llong intervened at the right time and Smith was rightly stopped at the right time. Kohli lashed out at the Australians in the post-match media conference saying that he is noticing the visitors players as they are trying to get help from the pavilion throughout the Second Test match.

Smith who apologized for his actions and said that it was like a “brain fade” on his part to which Kohli responded saying that was not “brain fade” and was intentional. On the other hand, Smith’s batting partner Peter Handscomb defended his captain saying that it was he who told him to look towards the dressing room and took the blame on himself, saying that it was his fault and not his captain’s.

The whole of the cricket world criticised Smith’s action on the field including Indian greats like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly. Some former Australians players like Michael Clarke and Steve Waugh too have done the same.

Also read – I always wanted to be one of the top players in the world: Virat Kohli

Though the International Cricket Council (ICC) have not punished Smith for his act and have told both the sides to concentrate on the third Test in Ranchi, which will host its first ever Test match from 16 March (next Thursday). The Australian team would consider themselves lucky as their captain got away with this one but he have to be careful in future about such instances.