The Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia has gotten off to a fiery start. Virat Kohli is having a pretty tough time in Australia right now. The former skipper’s bat has stopped doing the talking and he also finds himself being associated with controversies. Kohli indulged in a heated argument with an Australian journalist prior to the Melbourne Test match.
The Australian media looked at the scuffle as an opportunity and pounced at Virat, This might be Kohli’s last tour to Australia as a player in the Indian cricket team and it is high time for him to score runs and help his team win matches. The International Cricket Council (ICC) fined Virat Kohli twenty percent of his match fees four shoulder charging Australian youngster Sam Konstas during the opening day of the Melbourne Test match.
Kohli has also been handed one demerit point. ‘Cricket is not a contact sport and there are rules for body nudging in the game. Relevant here is another set of rules in ICC’s Code of Conduct (CoC)’, reads article 2.12.The brief showdown took place after the completion of the 10th over of the Australian innings on the opening day of the fourth Test when the players were crossing over. Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch.
Both players quickly turned around to glance at each other and engage in a heated exchange of words with Konstas’ teammate Usman Khawaja stepping in to separate them. The on-field umpires also had a word with the two. Speaking to reporters after stumps, Konstas said Kohli bumped into him and it wasn’t deliberate.
According to Konstas, the emotions got better of both the players and he also admitted looking at his gloves when the incident took place.
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