Virat Kohli’s outburst towards the host broadcasters and his anger at having the lbw decision of Dean Elgar overturned by DRS has been criticized, with many stating that the Indian team’s behaviour was “unnecessary” and “petty”.

With South Africa set 212 for a series win, the India team were on their toes during the last session on day three. With plenty of chatter around, the visitors were eager to end the day on a high, and they seemed to have danger man Elgar during the 21st over after the South Africa skipper was pinned on the pad by R Ashwin. Marais Erasmus immediately raised his finger, but the batter stayed on as the decision was reviewed and overturned after the ball was shown to be going over stumps. It left Kohli and the Indian team shocked, while Erasmus muttered “that’s impossible.” Elgar, hard to believe that he had survived, only offered a sheepish grin.

India, however, were unable to hide their disappointment and shock and even took jibes at the host broadcaster SuperSport, something that did not go down well with many followers of the game.

While some said that the incident took away the team’s focus from the task in hand as they leaked 35 runs in the next six overs, others stated that an international team could not behave so immaturely.

The DRS looked like a howler, but India’s response was both unbecoming and self-defeating #INDvsSA

— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) January 14, 2022

Unnecessary comment , accept and play on please 🙏 #INDvsSA

— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) January 13, 2022

Bad form by Kohli & Co to contest DRS decision v Elgar. There are shortcomings in such technology, but others can also dig up decisions that have gone in your favour. Truth is India batted poorly, SA bowled & batted superbly today which is why match is in the situation it is

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 13, 2022

Some even asked for a ban for Kohli.

If Kohli picks up demerit points for having a go at the host broadcaster via stump mic then test cricket will have nowhere to go from there – that is simply the *peak*

— Kieran (@BerbaSpinCric) January 13, 2022

Ban Kohli for a game…I get his anger. I’d be angry too. But to shout into the stump mic effectively stating the opposition is cheating with zero evidence is worth giving a ban for. #SAvIND

— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) January 13, 2022

Some failed to see why the team attacked SuperSport when the DRS was provided by a third company.

Serious question: Why are Indian players angry at the 🇿🇦 host broadcaster as opposed to HawkEye, an approved company for providing ball-tracking technology?

Is it really the case host broadcasters can alter ball-tracking from HawkEye? Seems unlikely.https://t.co/8oXQnSDFLH

— Michael Appleton (@michelappleton) January 14, 2022

Except for loading up a different ball into the feed provided to the 3rd umpire, I’m not sure how Supersport could’ve meddled with that DRS call. If the ball shown on the tracker was the same as the one bowled, they couldn’t have tampered with it. It’s an automated process.

— Himanish Ganjoo (@hganjoo153) January 14, 2022

Others, however, admitted that the players are humans at the end of the day, and they cannot have their emotions in check all the time.

Kohli’s outrages are also tactical. He needs that one person/thing/event to fully channel his energy and fire people up. Has happened a number of times (most recently at Lord’s). Might backfire here – and will likely be fined – but this is not just ‘in the moment’. This is him.

— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) January 13, 2022

Listening to the Kohli thing again.

What was the catching only the opposition thing about?

Surely he was not speaking about SandpaperGate (why would he?).

Something must have happened during the series that we not know about.

— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) January 14, 2022

Virat Kohli makes his feeling about the HawkEye projection known. To be honest, I can sympathise with his feeling of outrage. That looked dead plumb. Dean Elgar lives on. #INDvSA

— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) January 13, 2022