The Indian team was left furious when Proteas skipper Dean Elgar survived a DRS decision on day three of the third and final Test at Newlands on Thursday.
In the 21st over, Ravichandran Ashwin hit Elgar on the pads with his score on 22.
After an appeal by India, South African umpire Marais Erasmus gave Elgar out but the South African captain decided to go upstairs for a review.
READ | Proteas roar back at Newlands to set up epic series finish with Kohli, India fired up
Ball-tracking confirmed that the ball was missing the stumps by just flying over the top of the bails and Elgar was safe as the decision was overturned.
The bounce of the pitch - a significant factor in Dean Elgar's successful review.#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/GI2rXjgjwd
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) January 13, 2022
The result left Virat Kohli and his men shocked and outraged as they verbally took a stand.
Ashwin walked to the mic stump following the decision and reportedly said: "You should find better ways to win SuperSport."
Kohli then stood over the stump mic and went on, referencing their role in the Australian sandpaper scandal that rocked Newlands in 2018.
"Focus on your team as well when they shine the ball hey and not just the opposition," chirped Kohli. "You're trying to catch people all the time."
Indian opener KL Rahul also chimed in after Kohli, stating that "the whole country is playing against 11 guys."
Jasprit Bumrah eventually got his man as Elgar flicked behind to Rishabh Pant for 30 off 96 balls, which eventually led to stumps on Day 3 with South Africa requiring 111 runs for victory.
After the day's play, Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi was asked about the incident.
"Yes, we've seen it on numerous occasions around the world, there's a system put in place and that's what we use as cricketers," Ngidi told reporters.
"I think reactions like that show a bit of frustration and sometimes teams capitalise on that. You don't want to show too much emotion but as you can see there, emotions were high and that probably tells us that they're feeling a bit of pressure.
"It was a good partnership for us as well so they really wanted to break it and their feelings showed," said Ngidi.
Scores in brief:
India 223 (Kohli 79, Pujara 43, Rabada 4/73, Jansen 3/55) and 198 (Pant 100*, Kohli 28*, Jansen 4/36, Ngidi 3/21)
SA 210 (Petersen 72, Bavuma 28, Bumrah 5/42) and 101/2 (Petersen 48*, Elgar 30, Shami 1/22)
South Africa need 111 runs to win
