 "Indian batting star Virat Kohli was depicted as a clown by Perth-based daily The West Australian. Image credit: X")
Given his massive following Down Under, Virat Kohli had occupied entire pages on Australian newspapers ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the build-up to the marquee five-Test series centred around the Indian batting superstar. More than a month and three Tests later, Kohli once again finds his face splashed on an entire page of an Australian newspaper. Only this time, the article accompanying the picture wasn’t praising the former India captain.
Perth-based daily The West Australian carried an digitally-edited image of Kohli complete with a red nose and the headline “CLOWN KOHLI”. “Indian sook slammed for pathetic bump in teen’s dream Test debut,” read the strapline of the op-ed authored by Jackson Barrett.
The incident that led to such a strongly-worded piece on the tabloid along with an image of Kohli that will likely outrage thousands of Indian supporters occurred on the opening day of the ‘Boxing Day Test’ at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSam Konstas, making his debut for Australia after replacing Nathan McSweeney at the top of the order, was off to a rapid start after captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat.
Kohli, known for his in-your-face attitude and for not holding back against his opponents, tried to unsettle the 19-year-old by barging into him while changing ends at the end of the 10th over.
Konstas had struck Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah for two fours and a six in the seventh over and was beginning to break the shackles after a cautious start, and Kohli would have hoped the confrontation would have led to an early dismissal for the visitors.
Instead, the former India captain ended up copping a fine amounting to 20 per cent of his match fee along with a demerit point, his act of picking on a debutant from the opposition making him a villain in the eyes of Aussie cricket fans.
Kohli was also slammed by greats of the game, including former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as well as Indian legends Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, who described his action as “unnecessary”.
‘Not surprised at all’: Shastri comes to Kohli’s defence
Shastri, however, later defended Kohli following the backlash from the Australian press against the former India captain following the controversial clash of shoulders, adding that he wasn’t surprised and that the Indian press should stand by their players during home tours as well.
“You expect that in a home country. I wish our country would stand up for our players in situations like this in a bigger way. I am not surprised by this at all, simply because Australia hasn’t won here in 14–15 years. The last time they won a Test match at the MCG was in 2011. So, when they get an opportunity to go berserk, they will go berserk,” Shastri told Star Sports.
“I’ve been to Australia many, many times. It’s like the whole country comes behind the team—not just the crowds, but the media as well. I am not surprised because I see that sense of desperation. If Australia had already been 3–0 or 2–0 up, the headlines might have been different. I know where that’s coming from. It’s built up over a period of time, and it had to come out somewhere. Someone had to be the target. Then they got the opportunity with that physical incident yesterday.
“They said, ‘This is our chance; let’s get pens and paintbrushes out and start doing all sorts of things.’ You saw that thing on Virat Kohli’s nose. I mean, they forgot to paint the seam there—that would have been a ball,” he added.
Konstas, though, did not allow the incident to affect him, and would go on to bring up a sparkling half-century at nearly run-a-ball, eventually getting dismissed for 60 off 65 balls and adding an 89-run opening stand with Usman Khawaja.
Among the standout moments on the opening day, in which Australia reached 311/6 at stumps, was Konstas smashing Bumrah for 18 runs in one over as his figures after his initial spell read 6-2-38-0.