On the first day of the boxing day test, Virat Kohli was involved in an incident with Australian opener Sam Konstas at the MCG. Now, Kohli has been fined 20% of his match fee and awarded a demerit point for shoulder bumping Sam.
The ICC released a statement after the stumps on day one, saying that Kohli had been found guilty and fined 20% of his match fee.
“Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator during an International Match).”
In cricket, there are not many rules relating to body nudging. There is an important rule that reads, “Any form of inappropriate physical contact is prohibited in cricket. Without limitation, players will breach this regulation if they deliberately, recklessly, and/or negligently walk or run into or shoulder another player or umpire.
“When assessing the seriousness of the breach, the following factors (without limitation) shall be taken into account: (i) the context of the particular situation, including, without limitation, whether the contact was deliberate (i.e. intentional), reckless, negligent, and/or avoidable; (ii) the force of the contact; (iii) any resulting injury to the person with whom contact was made; and (iv) the person with whom contact was made.”
This incident happened during the 10th over of the game when he was seen shoulder-nudging the Australian batter. This led to both players exchanging some words and Usman Khwaja tried to cool things down.
On Field umpires Joel Wilson and Michael Gough, along with third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid and fourth umpire Shawn Craig, leveled the charge according to ICC’s rules. Kohli admitted to the offense and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee Andy Pycroft. Therefore, there was no need for a formal hearing of the matter.
For his act, Virat Kohli got criticism from various players and fans. Ricky Ponting was on the commentary team during the altercation and he called for sanctions against the Indian batter.
