The India star batter Virat Kohli has been fined 20% percent of his match fee and one demerit point has been added to his record after his on-field altercation with Sam Konstas during day 01 of the fourth test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The duo engaged in a verbal argument as Kohli indirectly provoked the Aussie opener as the two umpire had to intervene. As a result of his actions, the ICC has penalised Kohli with just 20% of his match fee and he won’t miss the test at SCG.
The incident occured after the 10th over of the morning when Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch once the over ended.
An action-packed Boxing Day ends in Melbourne with both teams having plenty to rejoice.#WTC25 | #AUSvIND
Day 1 report 👇https://t.co/TZFnYnYe3e
— ICC (@ICC) December 26, 2024
Both players looked back for a death stare and exchanged words before Konstas’ partner Usman Khawaja came in between, although the verbal dual didn’t last long.
Replays emerged later showed that Konstas had turned around from the crease and was walking straight towards the other end whereas Kohli while tossing the ball in his hand went from way outside the pitch straight towards Konstas and bumped into him.
When the incident occurred, many expected Kohli to get atleast 50 Percent match fee cut and a ban from the next Test match at the SCG. However, it came as a suprise that he was fined with 20 percent match fee deducted.
The reason could be that Konstas gave a statement that the incident happened in the heat of a moment and seemingly defended Kohli for his actions. Since, Konstas was also involved in the argument, the match referee came to the conclusion that it wasn’t entirely Virat Kohli‘s fault.
Australia concluded the day with a total of 311/6 with Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith smashed half centuries propelling the side to cross 300 run mark at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
