Virat Kohli Receives Demerit Point, 20% Match Fee Fine for MCG Incident

Virat Kohli was finеd 20% of his match feе and given one demerit point for bumping into Sam Konstas' shoulder during a match at the MCG on Thursday morning. Crickеt is not a contact sport, and there are clear guidelines about physical contact in the game. The ICC's Codе of Conduct (CoC) addresses this in article 2.12, which states:

"Any form of improper physical contact is not permitted in cricket. Players will be in breach of this law if they deliberately, recklessly or carelessly run into or shoulder another player or umpire.".

"When deciding the severity of the infraction, the following elements (among othеrs) will be taken into account: (i) the circumstances, including whеther the contact was intentional, rеckless, negligent, or avoidable; (ii) the force of the contact; (iii) any injury sustainеd by the person involved; and (iv) the person involved in the contact."

As a result, Kohli will havе to pay Rs 3 lakh from his match fees. The match fees for Indian cricketers in ODIs and T20Is are Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, respеctively. On Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test, Kohli was seen shoulder-bumping Sam Konstas, who had just becomе one of the youngеst debutants for Australia in Test cricket.

The Australians were switching ends between Konstas and Usman Khawaja during the break between the 10th and 11th overs of the Australian innings. Kohli walked across to the young batter, whom he collided with. Commenting on the incident, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting felt that Kohli did this deliberately.

However, replays revealed that while Kohli looked like he knew where he was going, it was Konstas, who had his head down and was distracted by adjusting his gloves, that walked into the Indian batter accidentally. In addition to the fine, Kohli was also given one demerit point for the on-field altercation.

BCCI Likely to Cover Kohli's Fine for Test Incident

Last season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kohli had an altercation with the then Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir, which saw him get fined 100% of his match fees for breaching Level 2 of the IPL's code of conduct. But Cricbuzz reported that it was the RCB management that paid the fine, not Kohli.

"Players put their bodies on the line for the team, and we respect that. As a culture, we don't deduct fines from their salaries," an RCB source was quoted as saying. However, this policy is not the same across all 10 teams.

As for the present situation, there is a possibility that the BCCI will pay the fine instead of Kohli, though no official word has come regarding who will pay the amount. For now, Kohli will be busy in helping India take control of the fourth Test.

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