It may have been a welcome break after a hard fought two Tests and all the on and off-field hostilities threatening to overshadow the ongoing Test series between India and Australia. However, the hostilities are set to resume as the two teams take the field on Thursday morning at the Jharkand Cricket Association Stadium.
As the third Test match between India and Australia starts in Ranchi tomorrow, skippers Virat Kohli and Steven Smith stuck to their respective stands even as they spoke of moving on and focusing on the game ahead. The four match Test series is currently level at 1-1.
Kohli had accused Smith and the Australian team of cheating over the Decision Review System during the second Test match in Bengaluru. In the post-match press conference, he had contended he had seen Australian batsmen consult the dressing room on more than one occasion.
While claims and counter-claims from either dressing rooms kept surfacing, the respective cricket boards of India and Australia had bought peace by issuing a joint statement.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) deputed former West Indies skipper Richie Richardson as match referee for the remaining two Tests, replacing Chris Broad who had officiated the previous two Test matches.
Richardson has been asked to speak to both the warring skippers ahead of the third Test match. Smith revealed that the meeting is yet to happen.
The match referee will, in all likelihood, speak to both the skippers before the toss on the ground. “Both Virat and I are meeting with Richie before the game tomorrow when we arrive at the ground. I think it will just be a similar sort of thing with Richie ensuring that we're both here to play cricket and cricket is the winner this week,” said Smith.
On the other hand, Kohli stuck to his stand saying he had thought well before making the allegations.
When asked whether he regretted making strong allegations against the visitors, the Indian skipper said, "I don’t. I think about what I say. I don’t regret anything that I have said.”
Speaking ahead of the Ranchi Test on Wednesday, however, he also emphasised on the importance to move on. “But at the same time, it is very important not to be stupid and go on about the same thing on a daily basis because there is cricket to be played. There was a decent break in between and we certainly don’t want to sit and think about one issue all the time. We have cricket to play, we have two Test matches to play and that’s what we need to focus on. I think it was a mature decision on everyone’s part to move on from that,” the Indian skipper added.
Correspondingly, Smith, who spoke to the media after Kohli, said, “Virat, obviously, stuck by his comments. From my point of view, I think they're completely wrong. I obviously came out after the game and said I made a mistake and it was an error on my behalf -- it was a brain fade. In regard to saying we do it consistently, that's complete rubbish in my opinion. I think he was wrong in his statement.”
When quizzed if the incident had left a bitter after-taste and affect the remaining two Tests, the Australian skipper assured that there was no bitterness from his side. “Not from my point of view. Yeah, it's about moving on, on concentrating on this Test here. It's been a great series so far, the cricket that's been played, and hopefully cricket can be the winner out here in the Test match. It's an exciting one, one-all in the series, half-way through the series. We're all excited about this Test and hopefully it can be a good one.”
Even as Smith and Kohli emphasised on the need to focus on the game and not the rest of issues around it, the visiting Australian press attempted to grill Kohli further on his charges against his Aussie counterpart. But the Indian captain chose to present a dead bat to every question posed with an attempt to take the issue further. Following is the question and answer between the Australian press and Indian skipper:
Is it appropriate for intenational captain to make serious allegations and not provide evidence to substantiate that:
Kohli: What were the allegations?
That Australia weren’t using the DRS the right way, two other occasions...
Kohli: But what were the allegations called?
Doesn’t matter what the allegation is called.
Kohli: But it does because it has to be called something for me to be questioning something about someone to call it an allegation. If no charges were pressed against me, how are those allegations?
You said two instances when you were batting, Australia used the DRS wrongly. Stand by that?
Kohli: As I said, we need to move on and focus on the game tomorrow. We have got two more Test matches to go. There are two sides of the coin. I could be speaking about another again and things are just not going to move forward. Everyone sitting here has their own interests and choose to ask what they want to. But our focus remains on the game and we need to look forward.
