NEW DELHI: India superstar Virat Kohli and debutant Sam Konstas were on Thursday involved in a heated on-field altercation after both shoulder-bumped mid-pitch on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Soon after the fiery exchange, incident blew up with the Australians blaming Kohli for instigating a confrontation with the 19-year-old debutant.
Amidst the drama, an unhappy former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting criticized Kohli for his actions.
“Have a look where Virat walks. Virat’s walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind whatsoever,” Ponting said on Channel 7 while watching the replay of the incident.
“I have no doubt that the umpires and the referee will have a good look at that. Fielders should be nowhere near the batsman at that stage.
“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,” Ponting added.
However, the Indian fans were quick to retort, highlighting Ponting’s hypocrisy. An old Ponting video soon surfaced online and started trending, showing the former Aussie captain himself instigating a confrontation with Harbhajan Singh.
During a India-Australia one-dayer in Sharjah in 1998, Ponting had tried to sledge and mock a 19-year-old Harbhajan after he was dismissed by the off-spinner.
Later in the day, Kohli was fined 20 percent of his match fee and hnded one demerit point by the International Cricket COuncil for his actions.
On the opening day of the Melbourne Test, top four Australia batters scored fifties as the hosts ended the day at 311 for six at the close of play.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets while Akash Deep, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar bagged a wicket apiece.
