Virat Kohli was in the limelight on the first day of the Boxing Day Test for the wrong reasons. He had a heated altercation with the youngster Sam Konstas with a shoulder barrage. However, the 36-year-old star cricketer won the hearts with his wonderful gesture on the second day of the match at Melbourne.
Steve Smith completed his 34th Test hundred on the second day when he drove Nitish Kumar Reddy through the covers for a four. After Smith reached the milestone, Kohli applauded him for his magnificent innings. With this hundred, Smith equaled the greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Younis Khan, and Mahela Jayawardene in terms of no. of Test hundreds.
Smith soaked in the applause of a huge crowd at the MCG after reaching his ton while Virat Kohli waited patiently. After some time, he went past Smith and gave a pat on his back as the latter continued to celebrate the hard-earned moment.
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Watch: Virat Kohli wins hearts with his gesture brilliant for Steve Smith
Steve Smith Test hundred, number 34!
He brings it up in style too 🙌#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/jRjwC6bdIZ
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 27, 2024
Not only Virat Kohli, KL Rahul was also seen clapping and applauding his wonderful innings. A few moments later, Smith’s batting partner Pat Cummins joined the celebration and hugged him as Smith soaked in the applause of a full house at the MCG.
The bond between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith
Both Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have known each other since their childhood days. Both of them were part of the Under-19 World Cup 2008 in Malaysia when Kohli made his name by leading India to a title win.
However, both the players have been involved in a heated tussle as well. During a Test series played in India, Kohli had accused Smith and the Australian team of cheating by looking at the dressing room to ask for a review.
But their bond has grown into a mature friendship over the last few years. Kohli made a wonderful gesture for Smith in the 2019 ODI World Cup when the crowd was booing him for the infamous Sandpaper gate incident in 2018.
Kohli asked the crowd not to boo Smith which was appreciated by him later. Kohli even earned the ICC Fair Play award for his gesture which was well applauded by the whole cricketing world. Since then, both the players have shared wonderful respect and camaraderie for each other.
Steve Smith scores 34th Test hundred
Meanwhile, Steve Smith scored his second successive hundred in the Boxing Day Test. Smith looked in wonderful form in the match and single-handedly took Australia to a position of ascendancy.
The right-hander showed why he is regarded as one of the best players of Test cricket as he played every situation perfectly. Australia were 311-6 and were in danger of being bowled out for less than 400. But Smith batted excellently with the tail and kept frustrating the Indian bowlers on Day 2.
Steve Smith scored 140 off 197 balls in a wonderful batting display. He struck 13 fours and 3 sixes during his knock. The crowd was on his feet after this excellent batting performance from one of Australia’s greats.