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WTC Final: 'Rubbish Shot...,' Justin Langer On Banter Between Virat Kohli & Steve Smith

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Former Australian opener and coach Justin Langer let viewers in on a funny exchange that took place between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith during the ongoing World Test Championship final between India and Australia at The Oval.

Part of the commentary panel for the one-off match, Langer revealed that he was speaking to Smith before the start of play on Day 4 when Kohli approached the pair and was less than complimentary about the way Smith was dismissed the previous day.

"I had a really nice moment out there in the middle of this morning," said Langer during his commentary stint. I was talking to Steve Smith when Virat Kohli came up to me and said, 'Rubbish shot.' And Steve Smith, if it was anyone else in the world, he would have said 'hmm, whatever,' but coming from Virat Kohli, he said, 'Hmmm, yeah! Fair call, it was a rubbish shot'."

The shot in question came in Australia’s second innings late in play on Day 3 of the match, with Smith on 34. The Australian batter had a rush of blood and decided to charge down the wicket to Ravindra Jadeja, looking to clear the mid-on boundary. 

However, he failed to get to the pitch of the ball and ended up skying a catch to Shardul Thakur, who ran to his right from point to complete the dismissal.

Despite the uncharacteristically poor dismissal, Smith had already shown his class in the first innings of the game by notching up a century. Having come in with his side wobbling a bit, he paired extremely well with Travis Head and ended up scoring 121 off 268 balls to help Australia to a commanding 469.

Two modern-day greats of the game, Kohli and Smith have always had a spirit of healthy competition between them, and have expressed mutual admiration for each other before.