India vs Australia: Sunil Gavaskar slams ICC's double standard, says Steve Smith deserves punishment

New Delhi: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not acting against Australia captain Steve Smith over the infamous DRS controversy during second Test against India at Bengaluru.

The former Indian captain hinted at ICC's possible double standards when it comes to giving out punishment to players. He then added that no Indian player should now be punished if he goes onto commit the same offence.

“It can’t be that some countries get favourable treatment and some countries do not get favourable treatment.

“Tomorrow, for example, if something similar is done by an Indian player … he also should not be pulled up at all,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

The ill-tempered match turned on its head when a furious Indian captain Virat Kohli raised the alarms when his rival number Smith tried to seek dressing room assistance over whether to ask for a review of the umpire’s LBW decision.

Later, Smith admitted to the act, but dismissed it as a "brain fade". During the post-match conference, Kohli said that the Aussies "crossed the line", and stopped short of calling Smith a cheat.

Here's the video proof, courtesy BCCI:

Then, the controversy deepened with both the cricket boards coming to the defence of their respective captains, and many legends of the game divided over the issue, of sportsmanship, integrity, etc.

“I would actually love to see Virat Kohli, if he is given out … and he looks at the Indian dressing room, gets some sort of feedback from them… Let’s see what the match referee and the ICC decide then,” added Gavaskar.

The Indian cricket board subsequently raised the issue to the ICC, but the world governing body decided not to act on the incident.

Instead, ICC yesterday issued a statement saying, "no charges have been laid against any player under the ICC Code of Conduct following the second Test match between India and Australia in Bengaluru."

For the record, the series is called the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, named after the 67-year-old and former Aussie captain Allan Border.

The third match will be played at Ranchi, starting March 16.