Usman Khawaja had the best seat in the house when Virat Kohli shoulder-pushed Sam Konstas on Day 1 of the 4th Test between India and Australia at the MCG on Thursday. Khawaja was Konstas' partner at the non-striker end, and was crossing the pitch, like his partner when the incident took place. As Kohli and Konstas did not waste time in having a verbal go at each other, Usman Khawaja was one of the two people to intervene in the heated spat – the umpire being the other one. At that moment, a frame captured Khawaja put his arms around Kohli's shoulder.
What was that about?
"I've known Virat a long time. He came to the academy when I was in the Under-19. We've been mates for a long time. So I was like, 'chill, go out. I'll talk to him. You chill; and I'll sort this out. Yeah, it was fine," Khawaja told ABC Radio after the match.
When asked to detail what he said to Virat, Khawaja kept it under the wraps. "You don't need to know everything. Come on guys, seriously. What goes on the field, stays on the field," the Australian opener, 38, said with a laugh.
The Kohli-Konstas episode emerged as the biggest talking point of the opening day of the Boxing Day Test, even as four of Australia's top-order batters recorded a fifty each and Jasprit Bumrah once again became India's saviour with the ball, picking up three crucial wickets including that was the dangerous Travis Head. In fact, Khawaja was Bumrah's first wicket, mistiming a pull straight to KL Rahul at square leg.
India's coach has no idea what was said
As for the conversation between Kohli and Konstas, no one, barring the three present on the scene, knows what was said and spoken. India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar isn't in the loop either. "Honestly, I don't know. We were having a conversation outside about something else completely so I am not aware of what happened, why it happened and if anything happened. But when you play a game like that, there's always going to be emotions but I am pretty sure it's not as big as it seems," he said during India's post-match press conference.
{{/usCountry}}As for the conversation between Kohli and Konstas, no one, barring the three present on the scene, knows what was said and spoken. India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar isn't in the loop either. "Honestly, I don't know. We were having a conversation outside about something else completely so I am not aware of what happened, why it happened and if anything happened. But when you play a game like that, there's always going to be emotions but I am pretty sure it's not as big as it seems," he said during India's post-match press conference.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli was fined 20 percent of his match fee and handed a demerit point by the ICC for his act, while Konstas escaped unscathed.