Why did Virat Kohli apologise to Steve Smith during India vs Australia match

Star cricket Steve Smith once again had tough time on the field during the India vs Australia clash when Indian fans started booing him and shouted “cheater” at him. However, this time he got an unlikely friend in Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who came to his rescue. The incident took place during India’s batting when Indian fans started booing Steve Smith over the ball tampering incident. Kohli, who was hitting the Australians all around the ground, came close to the fence and gestured the Indian supporters to stop booing Smith and instead applaud him.

Later, Kohli apologised to the former Australian skipper on behalf of the crowd. Smith also acknowledged Kohli’s good gesture and thanked him. He even went to Kohli and then patted on his back. The two cricketers also exchanged a brief hand shake.

With India fans giving Steve Smith a tough time fielding in the deep, @imVkohli suggested they applaud the Australian instead.

Absolute class 👏 #SpiritOfCricket #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/mmkLoedxjr

— ICC (@ICC) June 9, 2019

“I think what has happened was a long time ago and it is not good to see someone down like that. We have had a few arguments on the field but you do not want to see a guy feeling like that every time he plays. Because there were so many Indian fans here, I did not want them to set a bad example,” Kohli said during the post-match press conference.

“If I was in a position where something had happened with me, and I’d apologised and accepted it, and came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it either,” the Indian skipper added.

Smith, along with Australian opener David Warner, had been banned from playing international cricket for one year, following their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal during the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Cape Town in March, 2018.

Since then, the two Australians have been facing people angst and are often booed during their matches. Recently, during the Australia vs England warm up game, supporters of the England cricket team had also booed Smith, even as he scored a wonderful hundred.