The Indian skipper Virat Kohli was booed by a section of the crowd gathered at the Adelaide Oval when he came out to bat after the dismissal of KL Rahul on Saturday. It was surprising considering the warm applause he received when he came on to bat in India’s first innings on the opening day of the first Test against Australia on Thursday.

Australia batting legend Ricky Ponting has condemned the practice of the booing and opined that it wouldn’t have affected the India captain at all. He said that he can relate to it since he has experienced the behavior first-hand when he was booed by the English crowd during the Ashes 2009.

As per the quotes in cricket.com.au., Ponting said, “I don’t like seeing it at all. It didn’t worry me as a player when it happened in England a couple times. You’ve almost got to accept it as an acknowledgment for what you’ve done in the game. But I’d rather not see that happen at all. It’ll be water off a duck’s back (for Kohli), I’m sure. He’s probably had worse things happen to him on a cricket field, I would have thought, than getting booed by a couple of spectators as he walks on. If anything, it might have steeled him a little bit more.”  

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 Here is the video of the same:

https://twitter.com/videos_shots/status/1071357839677939712

Kohli, who lasted 16 deliveries in India’s first innings, dropped anchor on a rain-affected Day 3, consuming 104 deliveries to frustrate the Aussies. He was batting on 34 late in the evening when Nathan Lyon had him out at short leg to provide some reprieve to his team. Ponting added, “He (was) hardly playing a shot (early in his innings) and he looked like he wanted to really ground the Aussies into the deck.”

India finished the day at 151/3 to extend their lead to 166 and now, they will be looking to maximize the lead in order to put the hots on the ground in the first Test itself.