Former India national cricket team coach Ravi Shastri has criticized Virat Kohli over an altercation with Australia national cricket team youngster Sam Konstas during the ongoing fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He said it was unnecessary and one did not want to see that.
India National Cricket Team batsman Kohli made headlines on the first day of the ongoing fourth Test against the Australia National Cricket Team. The Boxing Day Test between the two teams takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.
Virat Kohli made headlines for his altercation with Sam Konstas on the first day of the MCG Test
Kohli made headlines for his altercation with Sam Konstas. It all started after the pacer who made his debut for the Australia national cricket team tried to play reverse scoops against Jasprit Bumrah early in the innings but missed a few. This made the India batsman laugh at the young batsman while standing in the slips.
However, after that, Sam Konstas attacked Jasprit Bumrah and also fired unorthodox shots. As the batsman continued to play his shots, Kohli was not shy about getting into the young batsman's ears as he continued his sledding.
Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas collided shoulders as they moved across the field between overs
But things got intense after the 10th over when Kohli and Sam Konstas collided shoulders as they moved across the field between overs. Immediately afterwards, they had a heated exchange of words before Usman Khawaja and referee Michael Gove interrupted to separate the punters.
Since then, Kohli has become a talking point and the batter has also faced a lot of criticism. This was because many were of the opinion that Kohli, being a senior player, should not have tried to attack the 19-year-old, who was making his debut for Australia.
The latest to join the bandwagon is former India national cricket team coach Ravi Shastri. The commentator believes that it was not necessary for Virat Kohli to do that, as he said that the batsman is a great player and was also the captain of the Indian team.
“It's unnecessary, completely unnecessary – Ravi Shaster on Virat Kohli's altercation with Sam Konstas
Ravi Shastri added that Virat Kohli may have his own explanations for his spitting and issued a warning to the batsman, saying match referee Andy Beecroft would be keeping a sharp eye on him. He explained during the match:
“It's unnecessary, absolutely unnecessary. You don't want to see that. Virat is a top player, he was the captain of the team. He will have his own explanations regarding that. But that's something you don't want to see.” There is one person who will be watching, and whose eyes will be locked on the proceedings, and that is Andy Beecroft.
Sam Konstas was the shining light for Australia on day one. The batsman played aggressively and scored 60 runs off 65 balls to help his team have a great day with the bat.
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