Kohli should be fined and suspended by ICC – Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has criticized Virat Kohli for his behavior during the third Test match of India vs South Africa in Cape Town. This was a series decider between the sides and in an important phase of the game, Proteas captain Dean Elger was given out LBW when he was hit on the pads by an Ashwin delivery in the last session of third day in the game. Betting in India would have been in the visitor’s favour, though things didn’t work out well for those fans.

After that, he decided to take a review and the DRS replay showed the ball was missing the stumps so the decision got overturned. This left most of the Indian cricketers on the field frustrated and some of them decided to do a protest. The cricket match was slowly slipping out of their hands and this didn’t help.

The Comments By The Indian Cricketers That Ignited The Initial Controversy

At first Ravichandran Ashwin went in front of the stumps mike and said, “You should find better ways to win, SuperSport (South African broadcaster).”

This was totally uncalled for and it started gaining some attention in the media. Team India started losing it from this point onwards and the game slipped out of their hands. They were just not in it anymore and were more focused on things that were not in their control.

Immediately after that Indian captain Virat Kohli acted very aggressively and shouted in front of the stumps saying, “Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball eh, not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time.”

At last, vice-captain KL Rahul said: “Whole country playing against XI guys.”

What Did The Ex-England Skipper Say In His Recent Interview After The Test Series Was Concluded?

Michael Vaughan in the studio was surprised by that act by Kohli and said that incidents like this cannot happen on a gentleman’s game. Vaughan insists ICC should not take the incident very lightly and should take some action.

“It is so important that the ICC steps in because you cannot have all that. Whether you are frustrated or not of course, we have all had moments on the pitch where you are thinking something is going to get you. It is absolutely right to get frustrated. But when you act like that as a captain and a leader of our game, the ICC have to step in. He needs to be fined and needs to be suspended.”

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has also heavily criticized Kohli for his on field act during the third game in South Africa saying the 33 year old is immature. Previously Kohli many times created headlines for his ruthless behavior and aggression.

Virat Kohli’s outburst against a controversial DRS decision during the third and final Test match against South Africa was “immature” and with such “exaggerated” reaction, the India skipper will never be a role model to youngsters. This is what former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels, as he expressed it in a recent interview.

What Gautam Gambhir Further Went On To Tell Star Sports?

Gambhir compares Kohli with South African skipper Dean Elger saying that in similar situation, Elger did not act like what Kohli did and it was never expected from an Indian captain.

“This is really bad. What Kohli did, going near the stump mic and reacting in that manner!! It is really very immature. This is not what you expect from an international captain, especially from an Indian captain.”

“Technology is not in your hand. Then you have reacted in the same manner when there was a caught-behind appeal on the leg-side, neither did Dean Elgar react in that manner. During that Mayank Agarwal appeal, it looked OUT from the naked eye, but Elgar did not react in that manner.”

“No matter what you say, stuff like he plays with his heart on his sleeve, this reaction was an exaggerated one and you can’t be a role model in this manner. No budding cricketers would want to see this kind of a reaction, especially from the Indian captain.”

India will be having a new captain in Test matches from the next series. That is, as Virat Kohli decided to step down as Test captain of India, which he announced after the conclusion of the current one. The performance was just not up to the mark, after yet another disappointing series defeat in South Africa.