Indian pace bowler Ishant Sharma and Australian skipper Steve Smith took their rivalry to another level on Day 2 of the India vs Australia 2017 match in Bangalore, with the former making a ‘monkey face’ at the visibly stumped batsman.
In a captured video, Ishant Sharma is seen making a ‘monkey face’ at Steve Smith, leaving everyone including captain of the Indian National team Virat Kohli in splits. It is believed that Ishant’s antic was an attempt to unsettle the Australian skipper. In the video, a bemused Steve is too seen reacting to Indian bowler. Steve Smith had arrived on the field right after David Warner was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin.
It is not uncommon for events to occur in matches, especially, when long time rivals, India and Australia are playing. However, unlike previous incidents such as ‘Monkeygate’ involving Harbajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, which took both the countries by storm and disturbed relations between the teams, this incident does not seem to have flared up.