Emotions flared once again between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith after the Australian skipper tried seeking a clue from the dressing room for a DRS call after his dismissal on Day Four of the second Test at the M. Chinnawamy Stadium here on Tuesday.
The incident took place in the 21st over of the Australia's second innings when Smith was trapped LBW by pacer Umesh Yadav, a delivery that went underground and struck the former just above his left boot in front of middle stump.
Having already blown a DRS call, involving David Warner, the Australians were in a fix on whether to seek another for Smith.
The Australian skipper first turned to non-striker Peter Handscomb's end to discuss the merit of reviewing umpire Nigel Llong's decision but were quickly denied a referral when the latter spotted both batsmen looking in the direction of the dressing room.
Rules pertaining to the usage of the DRS clearly state that 'signals from dressing room must not be given'.
According the International Cricket Council Standard Test Match Playing Conditions for 2016-17, the umpires may decline a review if they believe the fielding captain or batsman has received any outside input.
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"The captain may consult with the bowler and other fielders or the two batsmen may consult with each other prior to deciding whether to request a Player Review," the Playing Conditions states.
"Under no circumstances is any player permitted to query an umpire about any aspect of a decision before deciding on whether or not to request a Player Review."
"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," the Playing Conditions states.
In the post match press conference, Kohli taking a dig at Smith said, "There are loopholes in every technology and system. There are no two ways about it. People are bound to make mistakes. At the moment the call that's made on the field stays and that's what everyone has been playing and there's been a few instances where it's been a little tricky, it's been doubtful for people to understand what's exactly going on."
"Benefit of the doubt, which used to go out towards the batsman before, has now seems to have got out of the window."
"We have also not been that consistent while taking the right DRS calls and I think we need to get better with that but one thing is that we take our decisions on the field ourselves. We don't ask for confirmation upstairs. So, I think that one thing that's pretty consistent with us," he added.
The 28-year-old Indian skipper further said that he himself saw players of the visiting team looking up to the dressing room and asking for confirmation whether they should take the DRS or not.
"I saw that two times happening when I was batting. I pointed it out to the umpire as well that it has happened twice that I have seen their players looking upstairs for confirmation and that's why the umpire was at him (Smith)," he said.
"When he turned back, the umpire knew what he was doing because we had observed that and we told that to match referee also and the umpires that this has been going for the past three days and this has to stop."
"Because there's a line that you don't cross on the cricket field, sledging and playing against the opponents is different but I don't want to mention the word but it falls in that bracket," he added.
When asked if the word was 'cheating', Kohli said, "I am not saying that, you are saying that word."
He also asserted that he would have never done something like that on the cricket field.
Meanwhile, Smith apologised for his behaviour and said it was wrong on his part to look at the dressing room and he regretted doing the same.
"It was a bit of a brain fade and I shouldn't have done that," Smith also said at the presser.
"As far as I'm concerned the game was played in good spirits and nobody crossed the line," he insisted.
This comes after the BCCI took to Twitter to post: "DRS - Dressing room review system? Smith tries to get some suggestions from the dressing room for a review.
Star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scalped a six-wicket haul as India clinched an emphatic 75-run win over Australia to level the four-match series 1-1. Chasing a target of 188-run, the visitors were bowled out for 112 in the last session of the day.
India and Australia controversies have boiled over in the past, and with two matches still to go, one can expect many more.
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