New Delhi: Virat Kohli expressed his sympathy for Steven Smith and apologized on behalf of the crowd after the former Australia captain was heckled by the India dominated crowd at the Oval. Kohli was batting when Smith was sent to field on the boundary at one stage of India’s innings. Spectators near Smith started chanting, “Cheater!” repeatedly but Kohli, in the middle, gestured to the India insignia on his helmet, pointed at Smith and clapped in an effort to quiet the crowd.
Kohli said ,”Just because there’s so many Indian fans here, I just didn’t want them to set a bad example, to be honest, because he didn’t do anything to be booed in my opinion,he’s just playing cricket,he was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologized, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it, either”.
“So I just felt for him, and I told him, I’m sorry on behalf of the crowd because I’ve seen that happen in a few earlier games, as well, and in my opinion that’s not acceptable.What’s happened has happened. Everyone has known that. 
He’s come back. He’s worked hard. He’s playing well for his side. Even in the IPL I saw him, it’s not good to see someone down like that, to be honest. We’ve had issues in the past. We’ve had a few arguments on the field. But you don’t want to see a guy feeling that heat every time he goes out to play” Kohli said.