The former captain has been fined 20 percent of his match fee and given one demerit point after the incident at the end of the 10th over on the first day.
During the match, Kohli got physical with Konstas in front of a packed crowd of 90,000 – a video of which has gone viral on social media with many criticizing the cricketer for his actions.
The two players exchanged brief words at that moment, prompting Aussie opener Usman Khawaja to intervene and ease the tension.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) investigated the incident under Article 2.12 of its Code of Conduct (CoC), which prohibits inappropriate physical contact in cricket.
The rule states that players violate this provision if they “intentionally, recklessly, or recklessly” engage in physical contact with others on the field.
Factors such as intent, force, avoidance, and any resulting injury are evaluated to determine the severity of the violation.
Former ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel analyzed the incident and said that Kohli’s actions deserved scrutiny under the Code of Conduct (CoC).
“This long shot provided by the director is really interesting as it shows Virat Kohli changing his line to get into the personal space of Sam Konstas. This is the clause on which the umpires and referees today At the end of the game we will see whether Virat’s actions fall into that category and my suggestion would be that he is probably – looking at it seriously – more likely to do something about it now.”
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting also criticized Kohli’s actions and called them deliberate.
“Virat drives a full pitch to his right and sparks that collision. No doubt in my mind. I have no doubt the umpire and the umpire will have a good look at it. Ask the fielders closer to the batsman at this stage. No. Every fielder on the ground knows where the batsmen will gather and I think Konstas will get up very late even knowing that the man in front of him (Kohli) is there. may have some questions to answer are,” Ponting said.
Even former Indian coach Ravi Shastri expressed dismay and called the process unnecessary.
There is a line in cricket, and you don’t want to cross it. This incident was avoidable,” said Shastri.