Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley on Friday said there is no place for physical contact on the cricket field, following the physical altercation between India superstar Virat Kohli and Australian debutant Sam Konstas. The brief showdown took place after the 10th over of the Australian innings on the opening day of the fourth Test when the players were crossing over. Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch in the face off that was initiated by the travelling star.
Following the incident, Kohli was charged with breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft at the end of the day. He was also fined 20 percent of his match fee.
“Not a great look I mean you know physical contact on the cricket field is a complete no-no so it wasn’t great,” Hockley told SEN Radio.
“I think clearly Virat in accepting the charge, has taken responsibility,” he added.
Konstas downplayed the incident, explaining that Kohli had accidentally bumped into him, a response Hockley considered remarkably mature for a teenager.
“I actually thought Sam showed maturity beyond his years and was actually very kind of gracious to brush it off,” Hockley said.
“What it does is it highlights just the intensity of the competition but also just how much is at stake in this series but yeah not a great look,” he added.
Kohli also received one demerit point from the ICC. When asked whether the penalty was sufficient, Hockley left it to the officials.
“I think that’s for the for the officials. I’ve got a really experienced panel of officials here and the main thing is that kind of Virat has accepted the charge and taken responsibility.”
When questioned about the potential response had an Australian player been involved, Hockley replied “That’s for the match referee there’s a very clear very clear code and that’s for the officials to administer so you know I think that’s all been undertaken in the normal course.”
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