Virat Kohli Brushes Aside ‘Ball Tampering’ Allegations

As India completed preparations for the third Test in Mohali, with a 1-0 lead following their win in Vizag, Kohli questioned the timing and nature of allegations which arose after the footage was spotted by a South African journalist.

Kohli expects England to respond in an attacking manner after India’s thumping 246-run victory in the second Test as Cook & co. recall Jos Buttler.

Virat Kohli has revealed that he did not know about ball-tampering accusations until recently and said such issues take the focus away from cricket.

England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who impressed with his bowling in the opening Test, felt that it was crucial to dismiss Kohli early on. He also said that he doesn’t believe in “giving wind to such stories”. But Kohli got a niche higher by scoring a majority of runs in the 2 Test. “Once he gets in, it’s hard to get him out”.

However, cricket fans and enthusiasts are terming it an attempt to hide England team’s humiliating loss. For someone like Faf du Plessis, South Africa played exceptional cricket to beat Australia, to be told about ball tampering is silly.

About his own form after being rested in the previous tie, he said he was “fit and raring to go”. “First of all, I don’t want to react to any report that is there in the media”. I don’t pay attention to all those things. Even though James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowling well within their limitations the spin department failed to impress in the first two matches.

Kohli claimed that the allegations were meant to divert focus from the ongoingIndia-England test series. “But everything else seems to be a little bit of a grey area”.

It’s just that some people are trying to take the focus away from the series. “To me, newspaper article doesn’t matter over ICC’s decision”, Kohli told scribes at the pre-match conference here. Is that deemed as wrong and as cheating? “Occasionally at drinks breaks, the guys will come and have candies or mints – just to freshen up and keep the energy going”. We do what we do.

“It certainly keeps us on our toes.to be aware of how hard it is for the new batsman going in against accurate spin”, said Ramprakash.

“Ball would bowl an over, then Batty – we try to set fields, so have more of a match feel to practice”. I am not someone who will give too much importance to the conditions. If the ICC are saying you just musn’t put your finger on the sweet and then straight onto the ball then it might clear it up.

After hearing representations and evidence from the umpires at last week’s second Test as well as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) head of cricket John Stephenson, ICC match referee Andy Pycroft found Du Plessis guilty.

“We’ve come to India with basically only three guys who have been here before, and only one of the batters”, he said.