Courtesy: BCCI
Virat Kohli, the former Indian captain, has been fined 20% of his match fees for a collision with 19-year-old Sam Konstas on day one of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Apart from the fine, the 36-year-old has also been awarded one demerit point as per the Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct after the conclusion of play on day one of the Melbourne Test match.
The incident involving Sam Konstas and Virat Kohli happened after the conclusion of the 10th over of the Australian innings wherein the senior statesman was spotted changing his trajectory of walk before his shoulder crashed into the young opening batter. The proceeding conversation between the two didn’t perturb Sam Konstas as he managed to score a swashbuckling fifty in his debut innings after he and Virat Kohli were separated by their respective teammates and the umpires.
Watch the video of Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas' collision here:
Ravi Shastri wasn’t quite pleased with how Virat Kohli conducted himself
A lot of experts in the commentary box, including the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan, and Ravi Shastri, among others, weren’t quite pleased with how Virat Kohli conducted himself in that situation. Following that, the incident was assessed under Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct which reads, “Inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match.”
Since cricket is a non-contact sport with rules against such behaviour, the referee Andy Pycroft had to interpret whether the collision between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas was intentional from either of the players. The former Zimbabwean player deemed that Virat Kohli was guilty of Level Two offence of the ICC Code of Conduct Article 2.12, because of which he was fined some amount of his match fees and a demerit point was added to his disciplinary record.
Virat Kohli will continue to take part in the remainder of the fourth BGT Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia.
