Day 1 of the fourth Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was packed with excitement at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, especially concerning two players: India’s Virat Kohli and Australia’s 19-year-old debutant Sam Konstas. The two got into a heated argument during the first session of the game.
It all happened in the 10th over. As Kohli tried to move past Konstas, they bumped shoulders, leading to a big disagreement between them. Players Usman Khawaja (Konstas’ teammate) and umpire Michael Gough quickly stepped in to calm things down.
Replays showed that Konstas was simply walking back after facing a ball. However, Kohli seemed to come from the side and bumped into him. Former India coach Ravi Shastri spoke out about the incident, saying, “It’s unnecessary. You don’t want to see that.” He felt Kohli should not have acted that way.
Due to this incident, Kohli was fined 20% of his match fee and given one demerit point for what the ICC called “inappropriate physical contact.” Kohli accepted this punishment, so no formal hearing was needed.
Journalist Peter Lalor also shared his concerns about how matches are judged. He thought Kohli should have faced more serious consequences and reminded everyone of a similar incident with South African bowler Kagiso Rabada, who was suspended for making physical contact with a player. Lalor believes the rules should apply equally to everyone, saying, “There should be no physical contact at all in the game of cricket.”
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