Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has criticised India’s star batter Virat Kohli for shoulder-bumping young Australian batter Sam Konstas and for his overall on-field behaviour during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Kohli made headlines during the tour of Australia, not for his batting prowess, but for his behaviour on the field. He showed glimpses of his on-field aggression during the first three matches of the series, but he completely lost his cool in the fourth Test.
Sam Konstas took the world by storm on his debut as he attacked an in-form Jasprit Bumrah early in his innings on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in front of a sold-out crowd.
Konstas’ charge against India’s best bowler frustrated the fielding team. However, Kohli failed to control his emotions and bumped the batter’s shoulder, leading to an exchange between them.
“What Kohli did with the shoulder bump is simply not cricket,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column in The Sydney Morning Herald. “Indians are not shy to retaliate if provoked, but here the provocation was simply not there.”
“The one thing that players learn with experience is that it’s futile to try and get back at the crowds, who have come to have a good time, so booing players is never personal but just a way to entertain themselves.”
Throughout the series, the vocal home crowd directed loud boos at Virat Kohli for his behaviour.
The star did not back down either as he provoked the Sydney crowd during the fifth Test by mimicking the infamous sandpaper scandal that had marred Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2018.
“To react to that doesn’t do the player any good, and in fact, does more harm. Kohli must understand that whatever he does to react to the crowd actually puts more pressure on his teammates, who also then become targets of the spectators,” Gavaskar added.
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