“…Sam showed maturity…”: Cricket Australia slams Virat Kohli for unprofessional behaviour on boxing day

New Delhi: The controversial ‘shoulder tackle’ between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas has ended in a nasty brawl amongst the cricketing fraternity. Now, the Australian board- Cricket Australia has come down heavily on Kohli for his unprofessional behaviour.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley on Friday said that the behaviour of Kohli has been unprofessional and ‘unfit’ to be displayed on a cricket field.

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. In a recent interview on the SEN Radio, Hockley said:

Not a great look I mean you know physical contact on the cricket field is a complete no-no so it wasn’t great…

Kohli was slapped with punishment for the offence following the incident. However, the jury is still out on whether Kohli was right or wrong in the purview of the entire incident.

What has transpired so far?

Post the incident on the field, Kohli was slapped with a heavy fine for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct by on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Michael Gough. He accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft at the end of the day’s play.

In a statement released by Virat, the ICC remarked:

Virat Kohli has been fined 20 percent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct…

Furthermore, the apex board of cricket said that no formal hearing was deemed necessary after Virat Kohli accepted his fault and the sanctions which would be levied on him by Match Referee Andy Pycroft.

After the physical contact, both players quickly turned around to glance at each other and engage in a heated exchange of words before Konstas’ teammate Usman Khawaja stepped in to separate them. The on-field umpires also had a word with the two and things cooled down rather quickly.