‘Rubbish shot’: Justin Langer reveals epic banter between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith during WTC Final

On Day 4 of the World Test Championship final against Australia, India’s Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put up an impressive performance, remaining unbeaten and keeping India in the fight. With a target of 444 set by Australia after declaring their innings at 270/8, India needed 280 runs to win on the fifth day. 

However, India lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Shubman Gill before Kohli and Rahane stitched an unbeaten partnership of 71 runs.

Former Australia coach Justin Langer shed light on a sledging incident between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith on Day 4. On the third day, Smith was dismissed for 34 after playing a poor shot on Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery, which was caught by Pujara. Langer revealed the conversation that took place between Kohli and Smith regarding the dismissal.

“Virat Kohli walked up to Steve Smith and said ‘rubbish shot yesterday’. Steve Smith just looked at him. If anyone else would have said it he would have gone ‘whatever’. But he said, ‘that’s right, it was a rubbish shot’,” Langer revealed during commentary for Channel 7.

“If 99.9 percent of the population said that to Steve Smith he would go ‘whatever’. But coming from Virat, one genius to another, he goes ‘OK, fair enough’,” he added.

In the first innings, Smith delivered an impressive performance, scoring a whopping 121 runs. However, in the second innings, he fell short, only managing to score 34 runs.

Meanwhile, Kohli was in the midst of a solid performance, having scored 44 runs off 60 balls. He was accompanied by Ajinkya Rahane, who had scored 20 runs, as they worked together to achieve a stand of 71 for the fourth wicket. India ended the fourth day with a score of 164 for 3, as they aimed to achieve a world record chase of 444.

Despite the daunting target, India remained optimistic. However, their hopes were dampened when Shubman Gill was controversially caught out after scoring 18 runs off 19 balls. Captain Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara also fell short, bringing the score to 93 for three in the 31st over.

Although the highest chase at The Oval is 263, Indian fans remain hopeful going into day five. Kohli and Rahane have shown great resilience, and the batting conditions have not proven to be too difficult thus far.

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