Gautam Gambhir has come down hard on Virat Kohli for becoming engulfed in controversy during the Cape Town Test between India and South Africa.

Speaking to Star Sports, the former India opener described the current India skipper’s actions after Dean Elgar’s dismissal was overturned upon review as “immature”. Kohli had fumed over the reprieve, walked over to the stump-mics and had some angry words to say. He was heard saying: “Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball, not just the opposition, trying to catch people all the time.”

His former Ranji team-mate slammed this conduct. “This is really bad,” he said. “What Kohli did: going near the stump mic and reacting in that manner that is really immature. This is not what you expect from an international captain; from an Indian captain.”

Gambhir pointed out that technology was not in any particular side’s control, stating that decisions could go either way on occasions, mentioning a particular incident with respect to Mayank Agarwal. “Technology isn’t in your hand,” he said. “Then you have reacted in the same manner when there was a caught-behind appeal on the leg-side, neither did Dean Elgar react in that manner. During that Mayank Agarwal appeal, it looked out from the naked eye, but Elgar did not react in that manner.”

The former KKR skipper continued calling out Kohli’s conduct, stating that he should be a “role model” for youngsters. “No matter what you say: stuff like ‘He plays with his heart on his sleeve’, this reaction was an exaggerated one, and you can’t be a role model in this manner. No budding cricketer would want to see this kind of a reaction, especially from the Indian captain…”

He also hoped that the India coach would intervene and have a word with the India captain, “No matter the result in this Test match, this is not what you expect from a Test captain, who has led for such a long time. I hope Rahul Dravid has a word with him because the type of captain Dravid was he would have never reacted in this manner.”