ICC World Cup 2019 | Virat Kohli was right in supporting Steve Smith, says Sourav Ganguly

Virat Kohli earned a lot of respect for his gesture in the encounter between India and Australia on June 9. The Oval was filled with Indian fans who booed Steve Smith, who has made a comeback after a ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal. The Indian skipper did not seem too impressed and signalled the crowd to cheer for the former Australian skipper. Sourav Ganguly also heaped praise on Kohli for the same.

“Yeah, that’s how it should be. You need to play the game in the right spirit. At the end of the day, we are friends. People make mistakes in life but that doesn’t go on forever. It was great to see what Kohli did and more because he was under pressure and still kept his composure, calmness and dignity,” he said, reported ICC.

Shikhar Dhawan is out for at least the next four games and the management has not named a replacement, with Rishabh Pant coming in only as a replacement. Ganguly feels that Vijay Shankar should be the ideal replacement for KL Rahul, who will open the batting in Dhawan’s absence, at the number four position for now.

“I think Vijay Shankar is the option at number four. Shikhar Dhawan is very important so they have not inducted Rishabh Pant into the squad. We’ll have to wait for Pant’s brilliance to come on stage,” he expressed.

“Vijay Shankar should get the first go because he has been selected in the side and has been with the team. Pant is unfortunate to miss out because he is as good as anybody else. Shankar is a very good player technically, he can bat at number four and he can even bowl in these conditions,” added the former India skipper.