IND v SA: You can't be a role model in this manner - Gautam Gambhir slams Virat Kohli for stump mic reaction

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. Pics/AFP

Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir slammed India's Test skipper Virat Kohli for his reaction to the controversial DRS decision during the ongoing third Test against South Africa at Cape Town on Thursday.

Former Indian opening batter added that Kohli's reaction was "exaggerated" and "really immature". Team India was visibly irked after a controversial Decision Review System (DRS) call helped South Africa skipper Dean Elgar get his LBW decision overturned in the ongoing fourth innings of the Cape Town Test.

The incident occurred in the 21st over of the innings which was bowled by Ashwin. The spinner bowled a tossed-up delivery and it drifted in, beating Elgar on the inside edge and the ball struck him right in front of the stumps, and on-field umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger. However, Elgar reviewed the decision and replays showed that the ball was going over the stumps, and hence the decision was overturned.

The controversial call evoked different reactions from KL Rahul, skipper Virat Kohli, and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. First, the mic caught Ashwin as saying: "You should find better ways to win Supersport (South Africa broadcaster)."

Then Virat Kohli walked towards the stump mic and said: "Focus on your team as well and not just the opposition, trying to catch people all the time." At last, KL Rahul said: "Whole country playing against XI guys."

After the end of the day's play, Gambhir in conversation with Star Sports said: "This is really bad. 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. Then technology isn't in your hand. 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," he said."

Gambhir added that he expects head coach Rahul Dravid to have a word with Kohli regarding his antics on Thursday.

"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 cricketers would want to see this kind of a reaction, especially from the Indian captain. No matter the result in this Test match, this is not what you expect from a Test captain who has led the team for so long. I hope Rahul Dravid has a word with him, because the type of captain Dravid was, he would have never reacted in this manner," Gambhir opined.

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