India vs Australia 2017: Former Australian pacer Stuart Clark slams Wade-Stoinis pair for sledging Virat Kohli

What's the story?

Former Australian bowler Stuart Clark has slammed the pair of Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis for engaging in war-of-words with Indian captain Virat Kohli. The Australian duo questioned Kohli when the batsman took a run after Wade seemingly failed to collect a Stoinis delivery and held his head down, apparently in pain.

“He misfielded one. Whether the Indian batsman knew he was injured or not was probably a secondary question,” Clark argued in favour of the Indian skipper.

The wicketkeeper's comments were heard on the stump mic, “I might have a cry like you. I might go to the dressing rooms and have a good cry like you. Everyone has to feel sorry for you.”

The 41-year-old opined that one run should not be as big an issue as it was made, adding that Kohli steps us his game when the opposition sledges him.

“It’s one run. Is this the biggest issue this team has got? If I’m Matthew Wade and I’m Marcus Stoinis — and full credit to him for standing up for Matthew Wade — I’d be worrying about my own cricket, rather than all this other stuff. This is piddly cr*p,” he added.

“I wouldn’t be saying too much to Virat Kohli. He seems to want to fight with everyone and he seems to play 10 times better when he does fight with people.”

In case you didn't know...

Kohli regained his lost form against the Aussies in the second match of the five-ODI series and slammed a well-structured 92 to help India post a competitive total of 252. Bhuvenshwar Kumar and the wrist spinners - Kuldeep and Chahal - then stopped the visitors in their tracks as India took a 2-0 lead.

The heart of the matter

Both the bowler and his gloveman didn't look happy

The incident in question here took place in the 33rd over of the first innings. As Stoinis steamed in to bowl the fourth delivery of the over, Jadhav failed to connect and the ball apparently struck Wade on his wrist. The wicketkeeper then failed to realise that the ball is still in play as the batsmen took the run.

Both the bowler and his gloveman didn't look happy with it and launched a series of comments aimed at the Indian captain between the overs, some of which were caught by the stump mic.

What's Next?

With a 2-0 lead in the series, the India team will be looking to seal the deal in the next match at Indore. Australia, on the other hand, would want to shake off the humiliation of the first two matches and start afresh.

Author's Take

Clarke absolutely slammed his compatriots for their comments on Kohli and rightly so as the umpire hadn't termed the ball dead and the Indian pair was clever enough to make full use of it. As far as Kohli is concerned, we all know how sledging the Delhite turns out for his opponents.