Virat Kohli was involved in an incident with Sam Konstas, colliding with the debutant on the first morning of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
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."
