Former Australia internationals Aaron Finch and Simon Katich feel India star Virat Kohli went "overboard" and "tarnished his reputation" during the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The series was won 3-1 by Australia, as the hosts bounced back from defeat in Perth to win in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney – arguably only denied a win in Brisbane by rain.
From an Indian perspective, the hot-button topic was the form of senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, with the latter in particular focus thanks to the similarity of his dismissals through the series, as well as his behaviour on the field.
Kohli sparked controversy when he veered off course to shoulder-charge teenage Aussie debutant Sam Konstas on Boxing Day at the MCG – an action which earned him a fine of 20 per cent of his match fee and one demerit point from the ICC.
He was also in the spotlight during the fifth Test in Sydney. Captaining in the absence of Rohit and Jasprit Bumrah, at one point on the field, Kohli turned out his pockets, looked down the front of his trousers and mimicked a gesture of rubbing the ball, in apparent reference to the 2018 'Sandpapergate' scandal, which saw three Australian players cop heavy punishments after being found guilty of ball-tampering.
