Australian media has criticized Virat Kohli by calling him a “clown” following an incident involving Kohli and Sam Konstas on the first day of the fourth Test match in Melbourne.
During the 10th over, Kohli and Konstas collided shoulder-to-shoulder, with the former Indian captain seemingly changing direction to make contact with Konstas, who was walking toward his batting partner, Usman Khawaja.
Kohli and Konstas argued for a moment, but Khawaja stepped in and helped settle the situation before the umpires could take any action.
The altercation led to backlash against Kohli, including a penalty imposed by the match referee.
Kohli was penalized 20% of his match fee and received one demerit point for making physical contact with Konstas.
The West Australian newspaper insulted Kohli by referring him to as “Clown Kohi” in a headline.
The 36-year-old was labelled a “soak,” an Australian term meaning crybaby or coward, due to his behaviour.
This is not the first time that the Australian media has targetted Kohli with insulting comments. They often try to provoke him by making insulting remarks.
BCCI president Roger Binny shared his thoughts about the altercation in an interview, “I did not see the incident (Virat Kohli-Sam Konstas incident), but these things happen on the cricket ground. You have to accept it and carry on. See that the game goes on. That is important,” as per NDTV Sports.
On the other hand, during the post-match press conference, Konstas cleared that Kohli unintentionally bumped into him.
