India greats Sunil Gavaskar and VVS Laxman on Tuesday criticised Australia skipper Steve Smith for seeking the dressing room’s input for a DRS referral in the second Test against India, saying it violated the spirit of the game, PTI reported.

Smith, who was caught in front of the stumps by pacer Umesh Yadav, was stopped by the umpires for looking towards the dressing room for directions, even though the rules of the game bar players from seeking outside to judge a DRS call.

Smith first turned to the non-striker’s end to seek an opinion but sparks flew when the umpires noticed that the batsman had turned towards the dressing room as well to get a clue. The umpires immediately intervened to stop Smith. India captain Virat Kohli too joined in, leading to an exchange between him and the rival captain.

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“It was quite blatant and Peter Handscomb suggested to Smith and then Smith asked the guy at the dressing room,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by NDTV. “I don’t think that was in the spirit of the game. We have to see what the ICC and Match Referee do,” Gavaskar added.

Kohli at the post-match press conference said that it was the third instance in the match that he had seen the Australians looking upstairs before asking for a DRS.

“You have to take a decision on a DRS within 15 seconds on your own. I have not seen other earlier incidents but I saw it clearly when Smith did that today, he was clearly gesturing to the dressing room,” said Gavaskar further.

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“If the Indian captain was saying that he has also seen such a thing (seeking input from dressing room) earlier also, then I think the match referee and the umpires should look into it,” he added.

Former India cricketers Kapil Dev and VVS Laxman also come down hard on Smith. Former India opener Aakash Chopra too joined the chorus.

However, Australian great Adam Gilchirst said calling Smith a cheat for what he did would be a tad harsh.