Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting argued that a 20 percent match fee fine imposed on star India batter Virat Kohli for an altercation against debutant Sam Konstas “is not harsh enough”. Konstas’ much-anticipated debut in Australia turned out to be one of the most entertaining in a long while. Not only did the 19-year-old make headlines by toying with Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and scoring 34 of his 60 runs against him, but Virat also got involved in a heated exchange with the youngster after bumping into him, making a direct physical shoulder-to-shoulder contact. The 36-year-old was fined 20 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and handed over one demerit point for this altercation.
Speaking on 7 Cricket before the second day of the match, Ponting said, “Personally, I do not think it [the punishment] was harsh enough. I know there are precedents [where similar infringements have incurred similar-sized penalties] – they have generally been between a 15 and 25 per cent fine but let us have a think about the enormity of yesterday.”
“It is probably the most-watched day of cricket all year all around the world. Imagine if that happens in a grade game on the weekend now, what is going to happen there? I think people are going to think that that is almost acceptable now.”
“And unfortunately for someone like Virat, as we got told as players and as senior players, sometimes it is [the scale of punishment] just different for some people. He is a role model, he is somebody the cricketing world looks up to, so I personally do not think that the fine was harsh enough,” he concluded.
Even the former Indian cricketer termed the fine as a “slap on the wrist”, saying, “That’s a slap on the wrist. These players are highly paid professionals. Any fine has to be something which is a deterrent. I just hope Kohli, being one of the greatest players in the world, is not remembered for this, but rather for what he has done with the bat and the energy he has done with the bat.”
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Half-centuries from Konstas (60 in 65 balls, with six fours and two sixes), Usman Khawaja (57 in 121 balls, with six fours), Marnus Labuschagne (72 in 145 balls, with seven fours) and Steve Smith (68*) justified the decision with their fine knocks, pushing Australia to 311/6 at the day end despite India taking some quick wickets.
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