Watch: Kuldeep Yadav was called out on the field by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final after he almost cost India a run by not stopping the ball as it was thrown into him.
The incident happened during the 32nd over of Australia's innings when Steve Smith flicked a ball from Kuldeep off his pads to deep square leg. The batters took a single as Kohli swept in from the boundary to gather the ball.
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Once Kohli had collected the ball, he quickly threw it back to Kuldeep, who was waiting at the bowler's end with Smith already having made his ground. Smith was, however, watching the ball's progress back to Kuldeep with interest to keep track of whether another run would be on offer. As the ball came into Kuldeep, it bounced in front of the stumps and looked like it would be close to hitting them. Kuldeep stepped away from the ball, which missed the sumps, and let it go through to Rohit who was backing up on the other side of the pitch.
Kohli was immediately visibly frustrated with Kuldeep's decision not to field the ball. He gestured with his hand from where he was positioned in the deep and shouted at Kuldeep before standing still and staring him down, keeping his gaze fixed on the bowler as he turned to walk back towards the boundary. Rohit was similarly displeased, and directed some choice words at Kuldeep as soon as he stopped the ball.
While Kuldeep leaving the ball did not cost an extra run, Smith looked interested in calling Alex Carey back for a second until he saw Rohit backing up. If the ball had hit the stumps after Kuldeep left it, the batters may have been able to steal another, with Smith well within his ground and looking for the ricochet.
Australia were 165-4 at the point of the incident and looked like they were headed for a big score. However, wickets from Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel broke through the core of Australia's remaining batting, and they ended up on 264.
Watch: Kuldeep Yadav gets both barrels from Kohli and Rohit over fielding error
Chuldeep😭😭 https://t.co/KNa6yFug5e pic.twitter.com/fHfGsRl8iD
— S A K T H I ! (@Classic82atMCG_) March 4, 2025
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