"There's a line that you don't cross on the cricket field, because sledging and playing against the opponents is different, but… I don't want to mention the word, but it falls in that bracket," India captain Virat Kohli said about his Australian counterpart Steven Smith at the post match press conference on Tuesday.
Asked if that word was cheating, Kohli said: "I didn't say that, you did."
And this is the latest addition to the long list of fracas' between India and Australia cricket teams over the years. And it comes on the day India beat Australia by 75 runs on the fourth day of second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With this win, hosts level the four-match series 1-1.
Earlier on Tuesday, Smith and his partner Peter Handscomb shattered the rules of Decision Review System (DRS) by glancing towards their dressing room to decide on whether to review an on-field decision.
According to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rules on the DRS, "…signals from the dressing room must not be given."
"We take our decisions on the field ourselves. We don't ask for confirmation upstairs," was Kohli's sarcastic yet fitting reply to what the Aussies did.
And if you thought it was a one-off mistake, it wasn't, for Kohli accused the visitors of flouting the rules twice over the last three days when he was batting in this series so far.
Tuesday's incident happened in the 21st over of Australia's chase, when Umesh Yadav trapped Smith in front. The Australia skipper asked non-striker Handscomb for his view on whether to review it. Handscomb walked towards Smith, looking and pointing at the Australian dressing room.
The next second, Smith too looked in that direction for advice on whether to review it.
Watching Smith turn around, on-field umpire Nigel Llong walked towards him immediately, indicating that he could not do that. Like a school kid caught copying red-handed during an exam, Smith put his head down and walked to the pavilion.
The India skipper, watching all of this from the background, then came in and had an animated discussion with the umpires.
And in the post-match press conference, despite a charged-up Kohli not uttering the 'cheat' word, he indicated that the Aussies were doing exactly that by looking upstairs during referrals.
"I saw it happening two times when I was batting out there," Kohli said. "I pointed it out to the umpire as well, that it has happened twice, that I've seen their players looking upstairs for confirmation, and that's why the umpire was at him (Smith). When he turned back, the umpire knew exactly what was going on, because we observed that. We told the umpires and the match referee also that they've been doing that for the last three days and this has to stop."
Match referee Chris Broad, who according to ICC protocols can't talk to the media, reportedly told The Daily Telegraph that the only time the two on-field umpires were aware of the Australians looking at their dressing room was during the Smith-Handscomb incident.
The Australian captain, on his part, put his act at looking at the dressing room down to "brain fade".
"I got hit on the pad and looked down to Handscomb, and he said look out there. Then I just turned around and said what do you reckon? It was a bit of brain fade on my behalf. I shouldn't have done that," Smith said after play, countering Kohli's allegations by adding that it was the "first time it happened".
The Indian skipper merely scoffed at the brain fade reasoning.
"Honestly, if someone makes a mistake while batting, for me personally, that's a brain fade. The way I left the ball in Pune, getting hit on the off stump, that was a brainfade. But if something is going on for three days, then that's not a brain fade, as simple as that," he said.
WHAT THE RULE SAYS
According to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rules on the DRS, "…If the umpires believe that the captain or batsman has received direct or indirect input emanating other than from the players on the field, then they may at their discretion decline the request for a Player Review. In particular, signals from the dressing room must not be given."
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