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If the ICC does its job, Boxing Day should be Virat Kohli's last Test on Australian soil
Tom Morris • December 26th, 2024 7:09 pm
This should be Virat Kohli’s last Test in Australia.
The Indian batting icon deviated from his line and intentionally made physical contact with Sam Konstas. Try as they might, his guilt on these levers is indisputable.
It was a moment Kohli should regret. And if he doesn’t, he should be made to do so by the match referee via a one-Test suspension.
The mechanics for a suspension are relatively straightforward.
This wasn’t a player in the heat of the moment celebrating with gusto in the face of an opponent, like Kagiso Rabada in 2018.
No, this was a premeditated action between overs.
Kohli was fielding at second slip with Usman Khawaja on strike. His direct path to the other end with Konstas set to face up should have been two pitches wide of the cut wicket.
There was no need for Kohli to detour inwards towards Konstas, who was minding his own business.
Cricket is many things, but it’s not a contact sport in the same way football, soccer or rugby are.
A batter has his area and fielders have their areas. And that should be that, particularly when the ball is dead.
Kohli’s detour tells us his action was both deliberate and avoidable, two words specifically referenced under Article 2.12 of the ICC’s code of conduct.
A four-demerit point incident for physical contact between two players would be unprecedented under the current guidelines, but it's what Kohli deserves.
Twice a player has copped four demerit points for ball tampering, and once for abuse of an umpire, but never for an on-field collision.
But when was the last time you saw an incident like this? One that came out of nowhere?
Kohli may argue the impact was negligible - which would carry wait under the AFL’s matrix - but not in cricket when any contact is entirely unnecessary.
He may also contend the act was contrary to the spirit of the game and therefore a lighter penalty, just as Rabada did in 2018, but not deliberate, though surely he couldn’t do so with a straight face.
The problem with these incidents is they inevitably become global diplomatic controversies. See Monkeygate as the prime example.
The chip on India’s shoulder becomes overbearing. Nothing is their fault.
Behaving in such a manner on the field warrants a sanction, regardless of nationality or standing in the game.
Had Travis Head bumped Rohit Sharma in an identical manner, the same argument would apply.
What this does to the series, Kohli’s reputation and the lucrative working relationship between the two governing bodies is secondary to the requirement to adjudicate impartially.
That Kohli is an all-time great, if anything, elevates his responsibility to lead the way with his actions.
Where has this angry Kohli come from this summer? Why did he feel the need to accuse Channel 9 of filming his kids at the airport when they didn’t?
Combative Kohli was often the best version of the master batter. But now it just looks a bit desperate, like a player who can’t come to terms with his cricketing mortality.
If the ICC is doing it's job - a big IF - Kohli will bat twice at the MCG and that will be it for him on these shores.
Yes, a disappointing end, but entirely self-inflicted.
