The Border-Gavaskar Trophy this year has disappointed a little in terms of sledging and on-field drama but the fourth game tried to make up for that shortcoming when Virat Kohli was seen shouldering the 19-year-old debutant Sam Konstas.
This attempt to make the series a touch more interesting was made after the tenth over in the first session when both players ‘made inappropriate physical contact’ while walking across the pitch. A verbal altercation followed, prompting Usman Khawaja and on-field umpire Michael Gough to jump in as a mediators.
The replays of the contact showed that Virat Kohli had changed his course while rolling the ball in his hands to bump into Konstas who was walking while looking at his gloves. Former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, while commentating for Channel 7, said he had ‘no doubt’ in his mind that the Indian batter instigated the altercation.
“Have a look at where Virat walks. Virat’s walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind, whatsoever.”
“Fielders should be nowhere near the batsman at that stage. Every fieldsman on the ground knows where the batsmen will congregate and get together.” Ponting said further analyzing the situation. “It looked to me that Konstas looked up really late, wouldn’t even know anyone is in front of him. That man on-screen there (Kohli) might have a few questions to answer.”
Ravi Shastri’s opinion was not any different. The former Indian cricketer said the incident was needless, especially when the spat was between a young cricketer playing his first game and someone who has loads of experience in his kitty.
“When you see that, it’s not needed at that moment of time. I think Virat will realise that later, with the stature he has in the game, he’s captained the side for many, many years. In heat of the moment, things do happen.” Shastri said on Star Sports. “But on reflection, I would say it was unnecessary. You don’t want to see such things. There’s a line, you don’t want to overstep that line.”
Following the close of play, Virat Kohli was penalized 20% of his match fee for violating Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct which states that “inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator during an International Match”. Kohli accepted the sanctions without the need for any formal hearing.
Konstas played it cool after the day’s play ended. While speaking to Channel 7, he blamed the emotions for the heated incident but was quick to establish that these things are but normal for a sport like cricket.
“I think the emotions got to both of us. I didn’t quite realise; I was doing my gloves, then [there was] a little shoulder charge. But it happens in cricket.” Konstas said.
After nearly a year of watching players fight the demons of the Australian opening spot and fail badly at it, Sam Konstas’ quick-fire knock in the first innings was a sight for sore eyes. He scored 60 runs off 65 balls which set the tone for the innings. At one point, he took India’s MVP for a whopping 18 runs in an over. If anything, that is very telling of the fact that Konstas is definitely one for future.
