Virat Kohli was ruled not out after Australia claimed his catch in the first morning of the Sydney Test match. Steve Smith later voiced his opinion on the subject.
Captain Rohit Sharma opted to skip as Jasprit Bumrah led India in the fifth Test of the five-match series, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat, and India lost both openers – KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal – early in the innings. Kohli walked out to bat in the eighth over of the morning, against Scott Boland, who had just taken out Jaiswal. India were 17-2 at that point.
Kohli edged the first ball he faced to the right of second slip, descending rapidly at the same time. Smith, stationed there, dived to his right and got his hand under the ball, and somehow managed to scoop it in the air towards gully, where Marnus Labuschagne held it. The umpires referred the decision to television umpire Joel Wilson, to check whether the ball had touched the ground.
Wilson ruled Kohli not out. He felt that the ball had “rolled” along the ground even as Smith had parried it towards Labuschagne. The decision divided the cricket fraternity.
During an interval, the broadcasters asked Smith about the “contentious decision”. “Did you get your hand underneath that ball?” Isa Guha asked him.
“Hundred per cent, no denying it whatsoever,” responded Smith, before adding “umpire’s made the decision, we move on”.
Can Smith be fined for his comments?
Article 2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct (dated June 16, 2023) talks about sanctions in case of “Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made.”
While Smith was confident about having his fingers below the ball, he also made it amply clear that he had accepted Wilson's decision and moved on.
The ICC Code of Conduct adds that “when assessing the seriousness of the breach, without limitation, the context within which the comments have been made and the gravity of the offending comments must be taken into account”.
During the 2023 World Test Championship final between the same two teams, Shubman Gill was booked under Article 2.7 for having made a social media post about his controversial dismissal where he was caught by Cameron Green at gully. However, Smith has not done anything of the sort. He is, thus, unlikely to be sanctioned.
Boland did claim Kohli for 17, caught at slip, albeit by debutant Beau Webster. At the time of writing, India were 100-4 with Rishabh Pant (26) and Ravindra Jadeja (10) at the crease.
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