Following Konstas' continuous ramping of Bumrah, Kohli collided with the debutant as the fielders changed ends after the end of an over in the first hour of play of the Boxing Day Test. The collision was followed by a stare and a few words exchanged, primarily from Kohli, before Usman Khawaja and the umpires intervened to separate the two.

The incident was not viewed favourably by pundits, most claiming that Kohli initiated the tussle and was in the wrong. "He's been rattled by a 19-year-old," said Michael Vaughan on FoxCicket. "Sam Konstas did absolutely nothing wrong there. Virat veered towards him. You can't do that, you're just not allowed to do that."

"Yeah, no good. I don't like seeing that in any cricket. There's going to be plenty said about this," quipped Justin Langer on air for 7Cricket. "Virat walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation," Ponting said on Channel Seven as well. "No doubt in my mind whatsoever. 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. Every fieldsman on the ground knows where the batsmen will congregate and get together."

Konstas eventually ended up scoring a half-century, becoming the youngest Australian opener to do so in the process before he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja for 60 off 65 balls.

The incident involving Kohli, however, has raised questions on whether there will be any action taken against the former India captain. Here's what the regulations say.

Will Kohli get suspended for inappropriate physical contact?

Article 2.12 of the Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel lays down the law regarding inappropriate physical contact. It states that "any form of inappropriate physical contact is prohibited in cricket" and if players "deliberately, recklessly and/or negligently walk or run into or shoulder another Player or Umpire", they would be in violation of this regulation.

A breach of article 2.12 can constitute an offence ranging anywhere from Level 1 to Level 4.

The factors that will be considered while judging the severity of the incident and the appropriate sanction include "(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."

Only contact with an umpire or match referee can lead to a Level 3 or Level 4 offence, while Kohli can potentially be booked for a Level 1 or Level 2 offence for the Konstas incident.

At worst, a Level 2 offence can lead to four demerit points, which would translate into two suspension points, enough to force a player to miss a Test match. The least severe sanction, on the other hand, can be a Level 1 offence leading to one demerit point and a warning or a fine between 0-25 per cent of the match fees.

Among the factors that would be considered while judging the severity of the sanction to roll out, the first one - "the context of the particular situation, including, without limitation, whether the contact was deliberate (i.e. intentional), reckless, negligent, and/or avoidable" - is probably the most significant in this instance.

While it's for the match officials to judge whether the contact was deliberate or not, visual evidence suggests it most probably was, indicating Kohli might be in line for a sanction of some sort. However, the "force of contact" and "any resulting injury to the person with whom contact was made" clauses might save the former India captain from getting a harsher punishment and consequently a suspension.

Historically, four demerit points have been handed out for an incident only thrice. Two of them were for ball tampering and one was for shwing dissent towards and umpire's decision. There's no precedent for a shoulder-barging incident like Kohli's to be met with a sanction as harsh as four demerit (or two suspenstion) points.

Kohli does not have any demerit points in his record in the last 24 months as well, which will help him escape a suspension even if he receives three demerit points for this incident.

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