On Thursday, Indian cricket star Virat Kohli was fined 20% of his match fee and given one demerit point for shoulder-bumping Australian debutant Sam Konstas in the opening session of the Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The incident occurred after the 10th over on Day One when Kohli touched Konstas in front of 90,000. After the two players exchanged words, Australian opener Usman Khawaja intervened to defuse the tension.
The ICC reviewed the incident under Article 2.12 of its Code of Conduct (CoC), which forbids inappropriate physical contact in cricket. If athletes “deliberately, recklessly, or negligently” touch others on the field, they violate this provision.
To define breach severity, intent, force, avoidability, and injury are considered. Former ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel said Kohli’s actions warranted Code of Conduct examination.
“This long shot by the director shows Virat Kohli shifting his line to enter Sam Konstas’ personal space, which is fascinating. Now, there’s a clause in the ICC Code of Conduct that talks about inappropriate physical contact, and the umpires and referee will be looking at that clause at close of play today to see if Virat’s actions fall into that category. My suggestion is that they’ll probably do something about that now.”
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting called Kohli’s actions intentional.
“Virat started that fight by walking one pitch to his right. Absolutely certain. I’m sure the umpires and referee will examine that. At that point, fielders should stay away from the batter. Every fielder understands where the batsmen will gather. Konstas seemed to look up late and not notice anyone in front of him. Ponting said Kohli may have some queries.
Ravi Shastri, a former Indian coach, was disappointed and called the move unnecessary.
“In cricket, you don’t want to cross the line. The incident was preventable, Shastri added.
