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 iconic MCG.
After the 10th over 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 heated words, prompting other players and umpires to intervene.
Reacting to the incident, Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley on Friday (December 27) said there is no place for physical contact on the cricket field.
After the opening day’s play in Melbourne, Kohli was charged with breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft. He was fined 20 percent of his match fee and also received one demerit point.
"Not a great look I mean you know physical contact on the cricket field is a complete no-no so it wasn't great. I think clearly Virat in accepting the charge, has taken responsibility," Hockley told SEN Radio.
In the post-day presser, Konstas said Kohli had accidentally bumped into him. Hockley lauded the youngster for showing maturity beyond his years to downplay the incident.
"I actually thought Sam showed maturity beyond his years and was actually very kind of gracious to brush it off," Hockley said.
"What it does is it highlights just the intensity of the competition but also just how much is at stake in this series but yeah not a great look," he added.
When asked whether the penalty imposed on Kohli was sufficient, Hockley left it to the match officials.
"I think that's for the for the officials. I've got a really experienced panel of officials here and the main thing is that kind of Virat has accepted the charge and taken responsibility."
When questioned about the potential response had an Australian cricketer been engaged, Hockley replied: "That's for the match referee there's a very clear very clear code and that's for the officials to administer so you know I think that's all been undertaken in the normal course."
(With PTI Inputs)
