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Virat Kohli received harsh criticism from Gautam Gambhir for his response to the DR’s judgment.
The decision infuriated other Indian players, including Virat Kohli.
“It’s absolutely immature,” said Gambhir of Kohli’s reaction.
Virat Kohli’s response to DRS overturning the judgment of the on-field umpire was deemed “exaggerated” and “very immature” by Gautam Gambhir.
During the third Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town, Gautam Gambhir criticized Virat Kohli for his reaction to the DRS ruling. Kohli’s reaction was described as “exaggerated” and “very immature” by the former Indian opener. A dubious Judgment Review System (DRS) call enabled South Africa captain, Dean Elgar, to get his LBW decision in the ongoing fourth innings of the Cape Town Test reversed, and Indian players were visibly displeased by this.
Ashwin bowled the innings 21st over, during which the incident occurred. On-field umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger after the spinner bowled a flighted delivery that drifted in and beat Elgar on the inside edge.
As a result of Elgar reviewing the judgment and viewing replays, the decision was reversed and he was awarded three runs for his efforts.
KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin all had varied reactions to the contentious call. For starters, the microphone picked up Ashwin saying, “SuperSport (South Africa’s sports broadcaster) should discover better ways to win.”
“Focus on your team, not only the opponent, trying to catch guys all the time,” Virat Kohli remarked as he approached the stump microphone.
As the last statement, KL Rahul remarked, “It’s the whole country against XI.”
In an interview with Star Sports following the day’s play, Gambhir said: “You had to be kidding. Kohli’s actions, in which he approached the stump microphone and reacted in such an immature manner, are quite shameful. This isn’t what you’d expect from an Indian captain leading a team of international athletes. Then you have no control over technology. When there was a caught-behind appeal on the leg side, you reacted the same way as Dean Elgar, who did not. In the Mayank Agarwal appeal, it appeared from the outside, but Elgar did not respond in that way,” he added.
Dravid is expected to speak with Kohli over his antics on Thursday, according to Gambhir.
“Irrespective of the rhetoric you use, such as how he shows vulnerability, this reaction was over the top and you can’t be a role model in this way. Even the Indian captain’s reaction was a turn-off for prospective cricketers.
“It doesn’t matter if the team wins or loses this Test match; this is hardly the behavior you would expect from a long-serving captain. I hope Rahul Dravid speaks to him since a captain of Dravid’s caliber would not have behaved in this way “It was Gambhir’s opinion.
