Boards spar over Bengaluru DRS drama

Team Udayavani, Mar 9, 2017, 12:24 PM IST

New Delhi/Melbourne: The Virat Kohli-Steve Smith clash on the controversial DRS call on Wednesday triggered a full blown verbal war between the Cricket Boards of India and Australia with both aggressively backing their respective players.

A day after Indian captain Virat Kohli lambasted the Australian team and just about stopped short of calling Smith a cheat, the two Boards waded into the controversy by coming out with statements backing their teams.

The BCCI went a step further and requested the ICC to take cognisance of the matter.

“BCCI has requested the ICC to take cognizance of the fact that the Australian skipper Mr Steve Smith in his press conference admitted to a ‘brain fade’ at that moment. BCCI sincerely hopes that the rest of the matches are played in the true spirit of cricket,” the BCCI said in a statement.

The drama was triggered by Smith getting caught by umpires while glancing at the dressing room before taking a DRS call during the second Test, which ended in India’s favour on Tuesday.

Smith tried to play down the controversy by calling it a “brain fade” but that did not stop the barrage of criticism that came his way for his on-field actions.

However, he got the backing of his Board with Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland rejecting allegations questioning Smith’s integrity.

“I find the allegations questioning the integrity of Steve Smith, the Australian Team and the dressing room, outrageous,” Sutherland was quoted in a statement.

“Steve is an outstanding cricketer and person, and role model to many aspiring cricketers and we have every faith that there was no ill-intent in his actions.

“We reject any commentary that suggests our integrity was brought into disrepute or that systemic unfair tactics are used, and stand by Steve and the Australian Cricketers who are proudly representing our country,” he added.

Amid the drama, batsman Peter Handscomb sought to take the blame for the contentious call on himself, claiming that it was he who asked Smith to seek a clue from dressing room after being adjudged leg-before off Umesh Yadav.

“I referred smudga to look at the box… my fault and was unaware of the rule. Shouldn’t take anything away from what was an amazing game!,” Handscomb wrote on his official twitter page.