Kohli fined 20% of his match-fee, handed 1 demerit point for Konstas incident

Virat Kohli has been fined 20 percent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for shoulder bumping Sam Konstas at the MCG on Thursday morning. The decision was arrived at by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after a hearing conducted by match referee Andy Pycroft after Stumps. Kohli admitted to inappropriate conduct.

"Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator during an International Match'," the ICC stated in a media release. On-field umpires Joel Wilson and Michael Gough, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid and fourth umpire Shawn Craig levelled the charge against Kohli.

Cricket is not a contact sport and there are rules for body nudging in the game. Article 2.12, as stated in the ICC release, reads, "Any form of inappropriate physical contact is prohibited in cricket. Without limitation, players will breach this regulation if they deliberately, recklessly and/or negligently walk or run into or shoulder another player or umpire.

"When assessing the seriousness of the breach, the following factors (without limitation) shall be taken into account: (i) the context of the particular situation, including, without limitation, whether the contact was deliberate (i.e. intentional), reckless, negligent, and/or avoidable; (ii) the force of the contact; (iii) any resulting injury to the person with whom contact was made; and (iv) the person with whom contact was made."

The incident occurred after the end of the 10th over of the Day One of the Test when Kohli was seen shoulder-nudging the debutant Australian opener in front of a 90,000-strong MCG crowd. It led to an exchange between the players with the other opener, Usman Khawaja, trying to cool things down. Kohli's act drew instant outrage with Ricky Ponting calling for sanctions against the Indian batter.

"Virat walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind whatsoever. I have no doubt that the umpires and the referee will have a good look at that. Fielders should be nowhere near the batsman at that stage.

"Every fieldsman on the ground knows where the batsmen will congregate and get together. It looked to me that Konstas looked up really late, and wouldn't even know anyone was in front of him. That man on-screen there (Kohli) might have a few questions to answer," the former Australia skipper was quoted in Seven as saying by Fox.

One local media report called Kohli, a player of 121 Tests, 81 international centuries and over 25,000 runs, an antagonist. Konstas, though, said, "It happens." Ravi Shastri, former India coach, did not approve of Kohli's act and said it was unnecessary. "There is a line and you don't want to overstep that line," the former India coach said.

Based on the decisions of the match referees in recent times, the sentence appeared apt. Bangladesh's Tanizim Hasan Shakib had a verbal spat with a Nepal player and was fined 15 per cent of the match fee after an inquiry under CoC in June this year. He was charged for verbal altercation but there was apparently a bit of body contact too in that incident. Pycroft is one of the most experienced match referees. On Thursday, the ICC congratulated him on reaching the 100th Test as a referee.

As per the CoC regulations, when a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned. Two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first for the player. The demerit points remain on a player's disciplinary record for a period of 24 months. This was Kohli's first offence in 24 months. The Thursday's demerit point will remain in force in Kohli's record for the next two years.