New Delhi: Virat Kohli brought a bit of theatrics to Day 3 of the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, engaging in banter with the Sydney Cricket Ground crowd and referencing Australia’s infamous 2018 sandpaper scandal. This moment, combined with Steven Smith‘s dramatic dismissal on the verge of a career milestone, elevated the intensity of a thrilling day of cricket.
Throughout the series, Virat Kohli has been a target for the Australian crowd, but on this occasion, he turned the tables. He interacted with fans during the first session, playfully imitating scenes from the sandpaper scandal that marred Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2018. Turning to the crowd, Kohli humorously showed his empty pockets, subtly alluding to the incident that rocked Australian cricket.
The sandpaper scandal involved former Australian captain Steven Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft, who were found guilty of attempting to tamper with the ball during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. Smith, now part of the ongoing BGT series, was caught in the controversy. During the third day of the Test, Smith stood just two runs away from becoming the 27th player in history to score 10,000 Test runs.
As Smith approached the milestone, Prasidh Krishna extracted extra bounce from the pitch, forcing Smith to misjudge a shot. The ball rose awkwardly, and Smith ended up edging it to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who took a stunning catch. With Australia at 58/3, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head steadied the chase for the 162-run target. However, Siraj reignited India’s hopes with a faint edge off Khawaja.
Earlier in the day, India added just 16 more runs to their overnight score, thanks to the fiery pace of Scott Boland and Pat Cummins. Ravindra Jadeja was the first to fall, followed by Washington Sundar. Despite Jasprit Bumrah’s return to bat after dealing with back spasms on Day 2, India was eventually bowled out for 157, leaving Australia with a manageable chase.
