Virat Kohli played the role of captain and crowd handler during the 2019 World Cup clash against Australia at The Oval after Australi abatsman Steve Smith was booed by the Indian crowd.

Former Australia captain Smith received a hostile reception from the fiery Indian fans, booed as he headed to the boundary to field.

Kohli gestured to the supporters to stop abusing Smith, with the fans responding quickly in heeding their idol’s call.

Kohli then insisted Smith does not deserve further harsh treatment just because of his now-served ban for ball tampering.

He added: “I think what’s happened has happened, long back; the guy is trying to play well for his side.

“It’s not good to see someone down like that to be honest. We’ve had a few issues in the past, a few arguments on the field, but you don’t want to see a guy feeling that every time he goes out to play.

“He’s come back, he’s playing hard and just getting on with it. There were a lot of Indian fans here and I just didn’t want them to set a bad example.

“He didn’t do anything to be booed, he was just playing cricket. If I was in a position where something had happened to me, where I had apologised, accepted it and then came back I wouldn’t like it either.

“I just told him ‘sorry’ on behalf of the crowd. In my opinion I didn’t think that was acceptable.”

Provided by Press Association Sport