What Led to Virat Kohli’s Angry Outburst on Stump Mic? We Investigated.

'Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball,' Virat Kohli was heard saying on the stump mic -- A reference that the Indian team management should explain in order to understand what led to such an angry outburst.

New Delhi: India captain Virat Kohli was livid with the Decision Review System (DRS) that helped South Africa captain Dean Elgar survive a close leg-before call in a crucial stage of the match during the third day’s play in the series-deciding third Test played at the Newlands Stadium, Cape Town.

“Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball eh, not just the opposition. Trying to catch people all the time,” Kohli was heard saying on the stump-mic. India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and vice-captain KL Rahul were also heard accusing SuperSport (host broadcaster responsible for Hawk-eye) of manipulating the Hawk-eye data.

“You should find better ways to win, SuperSport,” said Ashwin while Rahul was heard saying, “It’s the whole country against 11 guys.”

Kohli’s outburst suggests that it was long pending and was kind of building over the course of the match. The reference of shining the ball has raised several questions on whether the hosts were using legitimate means to shine the ball or something that the Indian management had noticed and were not happy about.

Ironically, it is the same ground where Australia were found guilty of ball-tampering in 2018 that led to the suspension of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

“That accusation there I am interested in Warnie, this seems a bit premeditated, and this has been building or brewing…. and it has got to a breaking point. That accusation about filming teams shining the ball I am assuming it goes all the way back to that very ground when the Australians were caught out on camera,” said Adam Gilchrist while covering the Ashes on Fox Cricket.

Former Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne believed that while it is unbecoming for a captain of a side to react like that but suggested that it makes him wonder whether there was more to it than what meets the eye.

“Look it is an interesting one, I am not sure that should be happening from a captain of an international team. But sometimes frustration overflows, you just get so frustrated and that’s why I said I wonder if that has happened three or four times through the series, and that was like okay that is enough now we can’t have it anymore,” Warne added.

“We saw it, you saw it. I’ll leave that for the match referee to have a look at it. There’s nothing I can comment on it now. We’ve seen it all, just want to move on with the game now, “Paras Mhambrey, the bowling coach, said in his press conference after the day’s play.

There is no conclusive footage or evidence to suggest that the South Africa team didn’t use legitimate ways to shine the ball and it might well have been a combination of various factors like poor batting and bowlers failing to induce the edge that would have led to India’s downfall.

However, what is proven and is there for everybody to see is that the bowlers of the home team did extract much more from the pitch than the Indians. The bounce on offer was much more for the South Africans owing to their height than their Indian counterparts.

India failed to defend 240 in the second Test match and according to the data taken from Cricviz Analyst, the pitch eased out considerably in the last innings.

The Indian management, however, should share their side of the story and explain the reference given by Kohli of shining the ball to the rest of the world so as to understand what exactly led to such an outburst.