Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has suggested that Virat Kohli's punishment for colliding into debutant Sam Konstas on the opening day of the 2024 Boxing Day Test wasn't harsh enough.
Konstas' sensational arrival in Test cricket was the highlight of the first day's action at the MCG.
The 19-year-old scooped and ramped his way to a tone-setting and record-breaking half-century to put Australia in a position of strength early doors.
As well as his audacious strokeplay, his coming together with his idol Kohli will also live long in the memory. With Konstas establishing himself at the crease, Kohli walked towards and then into the debutant between overs – Kohli was widely regarded as the person at fault for the collision, given that Konstas was effectively unmoved on the pitch, the area you would expect a batter to be stationed between overs.
On Fox Cricket, Michael Vaughan said: "He's [Kohli's] been rattled by a 19-year-old. Sam Konstas did absolutely nothing wrong there. Virat veered towards him. You can't do that, you're just not allowed to do that."
Shortly after the end of the day's play, Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed a single demerit point for his part in the collision. The former India skipper accepted the charge.
Speaking before the second day's play on 7Cricket's coverage of the Test, Ponting said: "Personally, I don't think it [the punishment] was harsh enough. I know there are precedents [where similar infringements have incurred similar sized penalties] – they've generally been between a 15 and 25 per cent fine but let's have a think about the enormity of yesterday.
"It's probably the most-watched day of cricket all year all around the world. Imagine if that happens in a grade game on the weekend now, what's going to happen there? I think people are going to think that that's almost acceptable now.
"And unfortunately for someone like Virat, as we got told as players and as senior players, sometimes it's [the scale of punishment] just different for some people. He's a role model, he's somebody the cricketing world looks up to, so I personally don't think that the fine was harsh enough."
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
