Virat Kohli Got Away With ‘Slap On The Wrist’: Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting Consider Punishment Not Harsh Enough – News18
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Virat Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed two demerit points for shoulder barging Sam Konstas.
Virat Kohli has been criticised by Australian media for his heated exchange with Sam Konstas. (AP Photo)
The Boxing Day Test got off to a controversial start with Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas clashing on the field on the opening day in front of a record Melbourne crowd. Kohli and Konstas bumped into each other while crossing over before exchanging words. Usman Khawaja and on-field umpire intervened and prevented the situation from escalating.
ICC math referee Andy Pycroft found Kohli to have breached the code of conduct and slapped him with a fine of 20 per cent match fee besides adding two demerit points to his disciplinary record.
However, several former cricketers think that the conduct was unbecoming for someone of Kohli’s stature and since he’s a role model, the quantum of punishment wasn’t harsh enough to act as a deterrent.
“That’s just like a slap on the wrist. All these players are highly paid professionals and any fine has to be something which will be a deterrent. I do believe that maybe that is in the books that you have to fine X amount, so one can understand that the ICC match referee went by the books and by what the ICC conditions are playing conditions up,” batting legend Sunil Gavaskar said on Channel 7.
“But it has to be somewhere. I just hope that Kohli, being one of the greatest cricketers in the world, is not remembered for this. He has got to be remembered for what he’s done with the bat, how he’s brought energy to cricket in India. That’s what he should be remembered for,” he added.
Ricky Ponting feels that it could send a wrong precedent and make the conduct ‘almost acceptable’.
“I know there’s precedents, you know, things that have happened in the past that have generally been a 15 to 25 percent fine, but let’s have a think about the enormity of this yesterday. This is probably the most watched day of cricket for the whole year, all around the world. Imagine if it happens in a grade game on the weekend now. What’s going to happen there? I think people are going to think that’s almost acceptable now,” Ponting said.
“Unfortunately for someone like Virat, as we got told as players and as senior players and as captains, sometimes it’s just different for some people. He’s a role model. He’s someone that the cricketing world looks up to. So I personally don’t think that the fine was harsh enough,” he added.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels Kohli was a ‘little lucky’ and won’t be proud of his actions.
“I think when he looks back at it Virat, he will think he is a little lucky with that kind of punishment. The umpires look at track record over the last couple of years and your track record and how you behave individually over some length of time. Then they come up with the punishment,” Shastri said.
“The last thing I would like to see on a cricket field is physical contact. You don’t want that. This is sport. There is a line you draw and you don’t walk past that line. Virat has been a former captain. He is a very senior player. He has been on that stage for more than a decade and a half and when he looks back at that he won’t be too proud about it,” he added.
Australia legend Adam Gilchrist said the financial penalties won’t have any impact as they don’t really impact players as such.
“I don’t think a financial fine is really going to affect any one of these players. They earn significant money, and it is not going to change the dial too much. But that fine and one demerit point is the same punishment as Mohammad Siraj and Travis Head got when they had a little verbal altercation and that was just heat of the moment. But that is the same punishment for Kohli,” he said.
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