Sunil Gavaskar lauded Virat Kohli after the India captain stopped a section of The Oval crowd from booing Australia batsman Steve Smith on Sunday. India went on to beat Australia by 36 runs in a high-scoring World Cup 2019 match but Kohli's gesture won hearts across the cricket fraternity.
Steve Smith along with David Warner had been banned for a year for their role in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in 2018. In England, both Smith and Warner have faced a tough time from crowds. On Sunday, while Smith was fielding near the boundary, a few fans booed and jeered at him.
Virat Kohli, who was batting at that moment, asked the crowd to stop the booing and instead applaud Steve Smith.
Like Darren Lehmann, the former Australia coach, Sunil Gavaskar felt it was fine act of sportsmanship by Virat Kohli.
"The incident was bang in the middle of the match. The match situation was such that he (Kohli) could have been forgiven for thinking of the bigger picture. Smith personally did not do anything. He said he was unaware of what had happened and had to face the consequences. That was terrific from Virat. That's what sportsman's spirit is all about," Gavaskar told India Today.
Speaking to the media after the match, Virat Kohli said he even apologized to Steve Smith on behalf of the crowd.
"Just because there are so many Indian fans here, I just didn't want them to set a bad example, to be honest because he didn't do anything to be booed in my opinion.
"He's just playing cricket. He was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologized, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn't like it, either.
"So I just felt for him, and I told him, I'm sorry on behalf of the crowd because I've seen that happen in a few earlier games, as well, and in my opinion that's not acceptable," Kohli said.
