Former Australian cricketer Simon O’Donnell expressed his disapproval over the New Zealand team’s conduct on the field in the big-ticket semifinal clash against India on Wednesday. O’Donnell suggested that he didn’t like the New Zealand players helping Virat Kohli when he was fighting through cramps and went on to score a record-breaking 50th ODI century. It was humid at Wankhede Stadium as the players had to fight through the camps during the batting as Kohli also struggled a bit in the middle.
Meanwhile, New Zealand, who are known as the good boys in the cricketing world, did help him by picking up his bat and giving him some assistance. O’Donnell asserted that the Indian batting maestro was tearing the New Zealand team apart and their players went over and gave him the hand when he had cramps.
“I had a problem a couple of times last night. Virat Kohli gets cramp, they’re heading for 400 and blokes go over and help him. Why would you go and help Virat Kohli when he had a cramp? When they’re heading for 400. In a World Cup Semi-Final. Spirit of the game is playing within the laws. Virat Kohli is tearing your country apart and you want to go over and give him a hand,” Simon O’Donnell told SEN Breakfast.
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Meanwhile, Kohli became the first player ever to score 50 ODI centuries with his brilliant knock against New Zealand as India also entered the final of the tournament with a clinical 70-run win in Mumbai. The former Australia all-rounder further pointed out the moment when a New Zealand player picked up Kohli’s bat and gave it to him after it fell on the ground.
Simon O’Donnell explained, “He threw his bat away and one of the Kiwis went and picked it up. Go and pick your own bat up while you’ve got a sore hamstring and a cramp. Stop hitting us for sixes and fours. That’s not a big deal. That’s not outside the spirit of the game.”
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“It’s being competitive and saying, ‘Ok, he’s being physically challenged, why are we assisting him to stay physically ok to belt the crap out of us? I don’t get it, I just don’t get it. Stuff helping him out, he’s made 50 One-Day hundreds, why help him make the 50th against you in a World Cup Semi-Final? Give me a spell,” he added.
O’Donnell’s comments have sparked a debate on the spirit of the game and whether New Zealand’s actions were justified. Some have defended the Kiwis, arguing that it was a simple act of sportsmanship, while others have agreed with O’Donnell, saying that it was unfair to give Kohli an advantage at such a crucial stage of the match.
