Smith DRS row: Peter Handscomb takes blame, says he suggested Aussie skipper to look at dressing room

Courtesy BCCI

New Delhi: Australian middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb, on Wednesday, took to social media to clarify the reason behind Steve Smith's DRS assistance from Aussie dressing room on Day 4 of the second Test match against India.

Handscomb, who was at the non-striker's end when the incident happened, said it was he who had suggested the skipper to take a quick look at the pavilion.

I referred smudga to look at the box... my fault and was unaware of the rule. Shouldn't take anything away from what was an amazing game!

— Peter Handscomb (@phandscomb54) March 7, 2017

The incident occured in 21st over of Australia's second innings, with Umesh Yadav leading the attack. After conceding singles off the first two balls, Umesh's third ball kept low and hit Smith on the pad right in front of the stumps.

While Indian players began celebrating as the umpire raised his finger, Smith walked towards Peter to have a chat. While it looked like he wanted to take his partner's opinion whether or not to take the DRS, the umpire soon realised Smith was looking at the Australian dressing room for some signal.

He was immediately warned by the on-field officials, which was followed by a furious exchange of words between the two captains.

Moments after the game, cricketing experts took on the issue and asked for ICC and match referees to look into the matter. But it took over seven hours for Handscomb to come forward and reveal the truth saying he was "unaware about the rule".

In the post-match press conference, Smith sought to douse the fire, calling his actions a "brain fade" and something he shouldn't have done.

"I got hit on the pad and looked down to Petey (Peter Handscomb) and he sort of said look up there (towards the dressing room), so I turned around and said what do you reckon. It was a bit of a brain fade on my behalf and I shouldn't have done that," Smith said.

While Indian captain Virat Kohli hit out at Smith saying he has done it on more than two occasions, it remains to be seen whether ICC will take any action against Smith.