It was on June 9, 2019, when Team India skipper Virat Kohli showed his class when Indian fans were booing and chanting at Australia's Steve Smith during the India vs Australia match in World Cup 2019.
During the game, Smith was sent to field at the deep near the boundary line at the Vauxhall end and the Indian contingent present in the stands started booing him. There were some chants of "cheater" as well.
When Kohli noticed of this, he immediately gestured at the crowd not to boo Smith. He signalled at them asking to clap for Steve Smith instead.
Virat's act of sportsmanship was appreciated by Smith, who came up to him, patted him on the back and shook his hand during the drinks break.
This heartwarming gesture by the Indian skipper won him plenty of plaudits on social media and he even picked up the ICC's '2019 Spirit of Cricket Award' earlier this year.
After the match, Kohli had said: "What happened, happened long back. He's back, trying to play well for his side. It is not good to see someone down like that. You don't want to see a guy feeling heat every time he goes out to play."
"I just felt for him and I told him sorry on behalf of the crowd because I have seen that happen in a few earlier games as well. In my opinion, that's not acceptable," he added.
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Steve Smith and David Warner got similar reaction during the World Cup matches. Smith and Warner were banned for a year over their roles in the ball-tampering scandal which erupted in Cape Town back in 2018.
Both men returned to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2019 to play for their respective teams and were selected for the World Cup.
"There are many Indian fans here, I didn't want them to set a bad example because he(Steve Smith) didn't do anything to be booed. I felt bad because if I was in a position where something happened and I had apologised, accepted and came back, still I get booed I wouldn't like it either," Kohli had said.
