Only the extremely naïve would expect an India-Australia Test series to be an example of sportsmanship. However, as the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has progressed, the banter between the two teams has become progressively bitter. In this Test itself, there was a stink raised after none of the India fielders applauded Steve Smith’s century on the first day and when Virat Kohli applauded Australia’s failed Decision Review System attempts from the dressing room.
The latest on the series of unsavoury incidents is Glenn Maxwell mockingly imitating Virat Kohli’s shoulder injury which the Indian captain sustained while trying to save a boundary on the first day of the Ranchi Test. Kohli banged his shoulder while attempting a drive and went off the field clutching his shoulder in pain. He was off the field for almost two days due to the injury, but he did come in to bat on the third day, with a heavy bandage.
While Kohli was on crease, Maxwell put in a superb drive to save a boundary off Pujara’s batting. The Aussie centurion then held his own shoulder with a grin, indicating that his shoulder was all right.
While several people saw Maxwell’s actions as “taking the mickey”...
... The ‘mocking’ didn’t go down too well with many cricket fans on Twitter, especially in India:
There were callbacks to when Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan had similarly mocked Shane Watson’s injury...
...And how the captain MS Dhoni had dealt with them
In conclusion, maybe, we could just laugh it off?
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