On Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test on Thursday, December 26, Virat Kohli was given one demerit point and fined 20% of his match fee for shoulder-bumping Sam Konstas at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
When the players were switching ends following the tenth over in the first session, an unpleasant thing happened. Despite Usman Khawaja’s efforts to defuse the situation, this resulted in a furious altercation between Kohli and Konstas.
Soon after the event, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting blasted Virat Kohli and demanded that the seasoned batter face consequences.
Another expert who disapproved of Kohli’s antics and called them “unnecessary” was former India head coach Ravi Shastri.
“Yes, you don’t want to see it; it’s completely needless. You don’t want to witness it, especially since Virat is an experienced player and has captained the team. He will have his own reasons for this. There will be one observer, and his gaze will be fixed on the action. Pycroft, Andy,” Shastri said.
Another set of guidelines from the ICC’s Code of Conduct (CoC) is pertinent here. Cricket prohibits unwanted physical contact of any kind, according to clause 2.12 of the CoC. Players will, without limitation, violate this rule if they wilfully, carelessly, and/or negligently bump into, shoulder, or walk into another player or umpire.
“When assessing the seriousness of the breach, the following factors (without limitation) shall be taken into account: (i) the context of the particular situation, including, without limitation, whether the contact was deliberate (i.e. intentional), reckless, negligent, and/or avoidable; (ii) the force of the contact; (iii) any resulting injury to the person with whom contact was made; and (iv) the person with whom contact was made.”
Australia, however, won the toss and chose to bat first, finishing Day 1 at 311/6. Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith were the top four Australian batsmen, each scoring half-centuries, while Jasprit Bumrah was India’s standout batsman with a three-for.
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