When Virat Kohli arrived in Perth last month, potentially for his final tour of Australia, the Australian media went ga-ga, hailing the return of the "king." One newspaper even had its headlines in Hindi to garner attention from the Indian audience. More than a month later, Kohli was humiliated by the same media and labelled a "crybaby" in the wake of the incident involving Sam Konstas in Melbourne.
The incident happened at the end of the 10th over on Day 1 of the fourth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Konstas, having faced the final ball of the previous over, walked straight towards the other end of the crease while adjusting his gloves. Kohli, on the other hand, walked from way outside the crease and bumped straight into the Aussie. The incident sparked a heated exchange of words between the two before the umpire intervened.
Following the incident on Thursday, the Australian newspaper 'The West Australian' brutally humiliated the former India captain as they used the headline - 'Clown Kohli.' The slug on the article, describing how experts reacted to Kohli's act read: "Indian sook slammed for pathetic bump in teen's dream Test debut." For those unversed, 'sook,' in the Tasmanian region, refers to a cowardly person, especially a young person or a crybaby.
Virat Kohli fined by ICC
The incident sparked calls from veteran Australian cricketers for Kohli to be suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, he escaped a ban as Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed a demerit point.
{{/usCountry}}The incident sparked calls from veteran Australian cricketers for Kohli to be suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, he escaped a ban as Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed a demerit point.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli was charged with breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct by on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Michael Gough, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid and fourth umpire Shawn Craig.
He accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft at the end of day's play.
"Virat Kohli has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct," the ICC said in a statement.
"No formal hearing was needed as Kohli accepted the sanctions proposed by Match Referee Andy Pycroft," it added.