Steve Waugh feels Virat Kohli crosses the line when it comes to revving spectators

Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh questioned Virat Kohli’s spirit of cricket after Kohli got the crowd to cheer vociferously while Indian bowlers were running in to bowl at Australian batsmen during the current four-match Test series.

Waugh is of the opinion that the Indian skipper was crossing the line by raising his arms and gesturing and getting the partisan crowd involved while the bowler was in his run-up.

“That is Virat Kohli and that is what you guys love about him (aggression) but there is a fine line between revving the crowd up when the bowler is running in. I don’t mind him revving the crowd up in between balls but not when the bowler is running in. There are a couple of issues from both teams on how the game is being played and right now it is on the edge,” Waugh said at a promotional event in Delhi.

When talking about the controversy involving Smith, the Australian legend said that the visiting captain ‘would have learnt his lesson’ by now. However, he was also ready to accept Smith’s version of the story, which was termed as a ‘brain fade’.

“I have to go with Steve Smith when he says it was a brain fade and it wasn’t premeditated. So you have to take it at face value. The good thing about the whole incident was that the umpire stepped in and that is where it should have stopped. Smith would have learnt a lesson because obviously you cannot do that and it is not in the spirit of the game. It was an honest mistake,” the former Australian skipper observed.

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Kohli at the post-match press conference on Tuesday had alleged that the Australians had sought help from the dressing room on at least two other occasions when Smith was batting.