Steve Smith lauds Virat Kohli for his heartwarming gesture during the World Cup

Former Australian skipper Steve Smith lauded Indian skipper Virat Kohli for his heartwarming gesture during the 2019 World Cup. Owing to that particular gesture, the latter was also awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, a few days ago.

During the World Cup clash between, the Indian supporters gave an earful to the Australian by mentioning the infamous sandpaper gate scandal. However, Kohli wasn’t pleased with the behaviour of the supporters and urged the crowd to support Smith. It was a tricky situation for the Australian, who had just returned to the national team after serving a one-year suspension.

After remaining silent for several months, Smith has finally spoken on that incident and said that it was a lovely gesture from the Indian skipper. He was quoted as saying by IANS,

In the World Cup, it was really nice of Virat (Kohli) to do what he did. He did not have to do that and yeah it was a lovely gesture and really appreciated that..

Furthermore, the former Australian skipper hailed Kohli for his batting prowess and leadership abilities. The latter's record, especially in ODI cricket is simply staggering and he remains the only batsman in world cricket to average over 50 in all formats of the game. Subsequently, Smith showered enormous praise on the Indian, opining,

“Yeah, he is terrific. His batting numbers just speak for themselves. I think he’s an incredible player in all three formats and I think we will see him break many records. He’s already broken plenty of them and I see him breaking many more over the years. He has got the hunger for runs and doesn’t stop getting them. Hopefully he can stop getting them against Australia, that’ll be nice.”

A few days earlier, after being bestowed with the award, Kohli quipped that he was surprised that the accolade was given to him, especially after being under the scanner for a few questionable things.

However, with respect to Smith, Kohli felt that it was unfair to take advantage of a player who had just returned from a tough situation. He also mentioned that he understood the Australian's situation and that the circumstances the latter found himself under ought not to be taken advantage of. He also added,

That should not be a representation of our fans and what we stand as a cricketing nation, a sporting nation. We need to all take responsibility towards that. Intimidate the opposition, definitely try and have an upper hand but in a matter that is not targeting someone emotionally. That is not acceptable at any level and people should be wary of that.