Former English cricketer, David Lloyd, lashed out at Indian skipper Virat Kohli, saying he has been ‘pressuring’ and ‘disrespecting’ the on-field umpires during the ongoing series against England.
Lloyd said that Kohli’s assertion of England having influenced umpire Nitin Menon to give soft-signal in their favour during the 5th T20I was suspicious. Rather, he feels it is certain that the Indian captain has been ‘remonstrating with umpires throughout the tour’.
“Kohli also suggested that England were pressuring umpires to give ‘soft signal’ as out when Dawid Malan took a low catch in the fourth T20. Firstly, the soft signal is there to leave as much authority as possible with the on-field umpires,” Lloyd wrote in his column for DailyMail.
“And I don’t know if England put pressure on Nitin Menon in Ahmedabad, but I do know one thing – Kohli has been pressuring umpires, disrespecting and remonstrating with umpires throughout this tour,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd also criticized the ICC for not handling the on-field squabble between the players more professionally and rigidly.
“There have also been a number of altercations in India which, when copied, will permeate through every level. There was another on Tuesday near the end of India innings. You shouldn’t confront an opposition player on the field. It’s just not done. And the toothless International Cricket Council have done nothing,” he wrote in the column.
Lloyd also strongly disagreed with Kohli’s stance against the umpire’s call.
“According to me, umpire’s call right now is creating a lot of confusion. When you get bowled, as a batsman you don’t expect the ball to hit more than 50% of the stumps to consider yourself bowled. So when the ball is shown as clipping the stumps, the bails are going to fall.” Kohli had said about the umpire’s call.
Lloyd believes that the umpires are being undermined, posing Kohli’s words as an example.
“Umpires are being increasingly undermined in international cricket and there are players who seem to think they, rather than the officials, are running the game,” he opined.
Lloyd also criticized Virat Kohli for not thinking about consequences before making big statements and also reminded him to be careful of the words as he is a public figure and his statement leaves a big impact on people.
“Take Virat Kohli. Before the first ODI, the India captain said the umpire’s call should be removed from the decision review system and if the ball is shown to be hitting any part of the stumps it should be given out,” the Englisman said.
“Kohli does not seem to have taken the consequences into account. If everything is out, including when the ball is just clipping the bails, then all tests would be over in two days. An ODI would be over in four hours.”
He further insisted that the umpires should be made more powerful.
“Umpires have to be given the authority back. They must be handed yellow and red cards to stamp that lost authority because they look powerless. And Kohli, who has vast responsibility and influence, should be very careful in what he says and does,” Lloyd wrote.