The heated altercation between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas hogged the limelight on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

During the break between the 10th and 11th overs of the Australian innings, Konstas and Usman Khawaja were changing ends when Kohli walked towards the debutant and gave him a shoulder push mid-pitch.

The 19-year-old did not back down and turned to confront Kohli as the duo exchanged some words, prompting other players and umpires to intervene.

Khawaja, who was seen placing his arm around Kohli to ease the tension, opened up on the incident after the close of play.  

Speaking to ABC SPORT, Khawaja acknowledged the verbal exchanges between Konstas, Jasprit Bumrah and Kohli but wanted to prevent physical contact.

The southpaw also mentioned his longstanding friendship with the Indian batting stalwart and his efforts to mediate between the players.

"I was walking the other way and just as I turned around, I saw them collide. I was like, 'What's going on here?' Sammy was going, he was on fire, his beans were obviously going. I just came to diffuse the situation," Khawaja said.

"I like the emotion. There was a bit of chirp going on between Sam and (Jasprit) Bumrah and Virat the whole time. But I didn't want it to be tainted by any physical contact.

"I've known Virat a long time. We've been mates a long time. I was like (to Konstas), 'Chill. I'll talk to him. You chill, and I'll sort this out'."

The altercation with Virat Kohli didn't affect Sam Konstas’s mindset as he went on to score 60 off 65 balls with 6 boundaries and 2 sixes before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja.

Kohli’s shoulder-barging act with the youngster drew him a lot of flak from the cricket fraternity members, including legends such as Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri among others.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) also fined Kohli 20 percent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point.