India vs Australia: Never wanted to see Steve Smith and David Warner go through such an ordeal, says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli says he was sad to see the public backlash faced by Steve Smith and David Warner for their role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year.

Virat Kohli too was affected by the entire episode. (Source: AP)

India captain Virat Kohli extended sympathy towards the tainted duo of Steve Smith and David Warner for the public backlash they received in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal which occurred earlier this year. Admitting that he was sad to see the widespread criticism aimed at the two cricketers, Kohli maintained that he knew them well and never wanted to see them go through such a terrible ordeal.

Smith and Warner were banned for one year after being found guilty of ball-tampering during the Cape Town Test. Cricket Australia also handed a nine-month ban to Cameron Bancroft.

Speaking to former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist in an interview on Fox Cricket, Kohli said, “Well, it was sad to see. As big a thing as it became, you never want to see anyone go through that because I have known David and I have known Steve as well.”

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“Apart from all the competitiveness on the field and all the battles that you have, you never want to see such a magnitude happen to two sportsmen and what happened after was, I felt, very bad. I felt like that the things happened after shouldn’t have happened,” he added.

Kohli also revealed that he was affected by the entire episode as well. “The things that hit me the hardest was the way they were received at the airports and the way they were escorted out. Those things to me felt like this is very, very hectic.

“It is not my place to comment on the decisions but to treat people like that for me it was unpleasant to see. I would never want to experience that as a cricketer,” he concluded.