ICC must crack down hard on Indian captain Virat Kohli, says Ben Horne

IF the International Cricket Council fails to take action against Virat Kohli for his rampant sledging on and off the field, complete anarchy could mar the rest of this Test series, writes Ben Horne.

IF the International Cricket Council fail to change their minds on taking no action against Virat Kohli for his rampant sledging on and off the field, complete anarchy could mar the rest of this Test series.

Match Referee Chris Broad has 48 hours after the match to decide on penalties, but he is already on a plane home and it’s understood the ICC are heavily leaning towards issuing no penalties, fines or warnings for any player.

This would be a stunning outcome.

To turn a blind eye to the actions of an out of control captain who sledges the opposition unimpeded throughout a Test match and after, makes a mockery of the ICC’s steps to improve standards on the field.

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In scenes reminiscent of the Monkeygate fiasco, the ICC could be leaving itself open to criticism from outside that there are one set of rules for the all-powerful Indians, and one for the rest of the cricket playing world.

That’s not to say Australia should be exempt from punishment.

Indian captain Virat Kohli gives Australian captain Steve Smith a send-off after Smith was dismissed in the second Test on Tuesday night.

In any normal Test match, Mitchell Starc and Steve O’Keefe would have almost certainly faced automatic scrutiny for their aggressive send-offs following wickets.

But the point is the ICC couldn’t possibly fine Starc and O’Keefe without also throwing the book at Kohli – and it would appear there’s a great hesitance to rattle the cage of the BCCI, often perceived as the real controllers of international cricket.

Steve Smith’s DRS “brain fade” was undoubtedly a shocking look, and potentially worthy of ICC attention too, but Kohli’s accusation that Australia are guilty of systematic cheating also sets a dangerous precedent.

During the home summer when Faf du Plessis was embroiled in the lolly gate furore, Smith refused to buy in at any stage and even defended his counterpart.

But Kohli has displayed no respect for Smith at any stage, during the game or after.

There’s still time for the ICC to take action, and they’ve been known to change their minds in the past, but at this stage it seems all bets will be off for the remainder of this series.

If a player is done for a code of conduct breach out of the New Zealand and South Africa series also being played, not to mention any Test match contested in the foreseeable future, they would have every right to be absolutely filthy if Kohli escapes punishment.

The ICC may be on the verge of approving unfettered sledging, which only serves to escalate the challenge confronting Steve Smith’s team.

Kohli is cricket’s ultimate bully, and he has now rallied a country of 1.2 billion people behind him.

By the end of the Test match, Smith was being routinely booed for the first time in his international career, both when he went out to bat and then when he approached the dais for the post-match presentation.

A rabid Bangalore crowd with all the passion of an English soccer stadium chanted throughout the last session, “Go home Aussies, Aussies go home.”

This kind of atmosphere is good for the series, but the worry for the Australian team is that it’s been incited by an Indian captain with no regard for rules and with no one telling him there’s a line that can’t be crossed.

Regardless of whether Kohli makes runs or not in the third Test in Ranchi, the ICC may be creating a beast that’s impossible to contain.