Virat Kohli didn’t tamper ball, England media just poor losers: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, on Wednesday, slammed the British media for levelling allegations of ball tampering against India Test captain Virat Kohli.

The former master blaster said England should have gracefully accepted defeat in the second Test in Visakhapatnam. India won by 246 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
“The team that ends on the losing side often tries to raise a few issues,” Sehwag told Hindustan Times. On Tuesday, a video surfaced on social media suggesting that Virat Kohli had ‘doctored’ the ball during the drawn first Test in Rajkot.

“Perhaps the England team hasn’t gone on to do it (raise the issue) but the English media has. I feel one should accept defeats in a graceful manner… We never gave excuses when we lost matches abroad. We used to accept that we didn’t play well when we lost a game.”

A British media report said the India captain had used saliva to shine the ball while chewing a mint. The video, which was later blocked by STAR Sports, the host broadcasters of the India vs England series, went furiously viral.

On Tuesday,South Africa’s stand-in Test skipper Faf du Plessis was fined by the ICCfor applying an artificial substance on the ball during the Hobart Test. Du Plessis was seen polishing the ball with saliva while having a lolly in his mouth.

Virat Kohli escaped any censure from the ICC because his video surfaced “beyond the five-day window when the ICC CEO can slap charges.”

Du Plessis was not amused with the ICC decision and was fined 100 per cent of his match fees. Sehwag was right behind the veteran.

“Faf shouldn’t be bothered about this as he did nothing wrong. You’re allowed to have toffees, lollies, etc. and you’re also allowed to apply saliva to shine the ball.

“So I really don’t know what’s wrong with that. It’s not like someone is applying something else other than saliva,” Sehwag said in an exclusive chat.