Former India skipper Virat Kohli has been docked 20 per cent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for his heated exchange with Australia debutant Sam Konstas on the opening day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
The incident took place early into the first session of play when Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch between overs. A heated exchange followed the confrontation, before Konstas’ opening partner Usman Khawaja and umpire Michael Gough interrupted to cut the altercation short.
Kohli was sanctioned for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct that relates to “inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator during an International Match”. No formal hearing was required as Kohli accepted the sanctions.
The collision between Kohli and Konstas evoked memories of the current Indian team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir’s intentional shoulder tackle of former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson in Delhi in 2008. While Gambhir’s behaviour resulted in a one-Test ban for the former southpaw, Kohli was fortunate to escape a major sanction.
After the day’s play ended, Konstas suggested his contact with Kohli had been accidental. “I was just doing my gloves (up) and I think he accidentally bumped me. But I think that’s just cricket, just the tension,” the 19-year-old told reporters.
Former cricketers-turned-commentators Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri were among those to suggest Kohli was in the wrong after he barged into the batter between overs, sparking a tense exchange of words between the pair.
“Have a look at where Virat walks. Virat walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind, whatsoever,” observed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri felt what Kohli did was “unnecessary”.
“When you see that, it’s not needed at that moment of time. I think Virat will realise that later, with the stature he has in the game, he’s captained the side for many, many years. In the heat of the moment, things do happen. But on reflection, I would say it was unnecessary. You don’t want to see such things. There’s a line, you don’t want to overstep that line,” Shastri told Star Sports.
Konstas, who was drafted into the side as a forced replacement for the non-performing Nathan McSweeney ahead of the Boxing Day Test, was off to a nervy start, struggling to 5 off 21 after being beaten several times before moving to 27 off 38 at the time of the altercation with Kohli. He eventually came up with a belligerent 60 off 65 balls.
Later in the day, India’s assistant coach Abishek Nair denied seeing the incident at the time, insisting he “was not aware of what happened, why it happened and if anything happened”.
“When you play a game like that, there’s always going to be emotions, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not as big as it seems,” he said.
This is not the first time Kohli has been involved with run-ins with Aussies. During the 2018-19 tour under Kohli’s captaincy, the premier batter had collided for an altercation with the then opposite captain Tim Paine. Kohli was also involved in a heated exchange with former left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson while scoring a stunning century in Adelaide in 2014.