Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli
Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli received no support from former India coach Ravi Shastri, after his incident with Sam Konstas on day one of the fourth BGT 2024-25 Test at the MCG. He said that it was unnecessary and one doesn’t want to see that.

Virat Kohli hoarded headlines of newspapers on Day 1 of the ongoing fourth Test, that is underway between India and Australia in Melbourne.

Because he argued with Sam Konstas, Kohli made the news. The incident began when the rookie for the Australia National Cricket Team tried to play reverse scoops against Jasprit Bumrah early in the innings but failed to do it. India’s batter stood in the slips and laughed at the young batter as a result.

But then Sam Konstas hit unconventional shots and targeted Jasprit Bumrah. As the young batsman proceeded to sledge him, Kohli didn’t hesitate to get in his ears while he was playing his shots.

Virat Kohli bumps shoulders with Sam Konstas

However, in the tenth over, when Kohli and Sam Konstas collided while crossing the field in between overs, the action picked up speed. They then engaged in a furious verbal altercation before umpire Michael Gough and Usman Khawaja intervened to separate the batsmen.

Since then, Kohli has been the talk of the town, and the batter has also been heavily criticized. This was due to the widespread belief that, as a senior hitter, Kohli had no right to take aim at the 19-year-old, who was making his Australian debut.

“Unnecessary”: Ravi Shastri slams Virat Kohli for his antics

Ex-Indian head coach Ravi Shastri slammed Virat Kohli for barging into Sam Konstas. Virat Kohli may have his own reasons for his altercation, Ravi Shastri remarked. He warned the batter that match referee Andy Pycroft will be closely monitoring him.

“It’s unnecessary, totally unnecessary. You don’t want to see that. Virat is a senior player, he’s been captain of the side. He’ll have his own explanations as regards that. But it’s something you don’t want to see. One person who will be watching, his eyes will be locked into the proceedings, Andy Pycroft,” Shastri said.

Sam Konstas scored 60 on his Test debut as Australia posted 311/6 on day one with Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith also scoring half-centuries.

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