BCCI files complaint against Smith, Handscomb

Steven Smith was given out lbw in a tense final-day chase in Bengaluru, sparking the controversy © AFP

The BCCI has filed an official complaint with the ICC against Australia captain Steven Smith and batsman Peter Handscomb in relation to the DRS controversy in the Bengaluru Test. The charge brought against the two is a Level 2 charge, for acting against the spirit of cricket.

This comes a day after the ICC said no action would be taken against any of the players in the matter, and advised the teams to “focus their energies on the third Test in Ranchi next week”.

The incident occured on the final day of the Test, when Smith looked towards the dressing room after having chatted with non-striker Handscomb when given out lbw in a tense chase, apparently for clues on whether to review the call or not. Umpire Nigel Llong intervened immediately, and sent Smith on his way. In his post-match conference, Smith put his actions down to a “brain fade”. India captain Virat Kohi disagreed with that, saying Australia took help from their dressing room on at least three occasions before making their mind up on DRS reviews in the Test. Kohli said he had made the umpires aware of the matter on two occasions before the third one played out in full view.

The complaint laid by the BCCI, however, is directed only against the Smith incident, and not any other alleged instance.

The BCCI filed the complaint on Thursday afternoon; as per the ICC’s regulations, the BCCI’s CEO Rahul Johri had up to 48 hours since the time of the incident – which happened in the middle session on Tuesday – to file a complaint.

Both the Indian and Australian boards had come out in support of their teams on the day after the Test, and Handscomb tweeted that he was “unaware of the rule”.

More to follow

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Source: ESPN Crickinfo