The shoulder-barging incident between India star Virat Kohli and Australia’s teenage opener Sam Konstas was one of the most controversial moments of the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. It was a moment that divided opinion between Indian and Australian fans, experts and media, and even led to Kohli being labelled a “clown” by an Australian newspaper. Looking back at the incident, former Australia cricketer Brad Haddin has put the blame entirely on Kohli, saying that Kohli had turned into a frustrated figure, not just because of Konstas’ aggressive brand of cricket, but also because of his own lean patch.
“He (Sam Konstas) got under Kohli’s skin. Kohli was frustrated… Kohli was frustrated with his game,” said Haddin, speaking on the Willow Talk podcast.
“He came out to bat, everyone in every commentary box said, ‘Australia are going to bowl on fourth or fifth stump, they will play on Kohli’s patience’, and he got out the same way every time,” Haddin added.
The incident, which happened on Day 1 of the fourth Test in Melbourne, took place after Konstas had made a fiery start with the bat on Test debut, even taking Jasprit Bumrah for 14 runs in an over, including a reverse-scoop six.
Kohli ultimately paid the price for the incident, seeing 20 per cent of his match fees deducted and an ICC demerit point added to his name. However, Haddin explains that Virat Kohli was also frustrated because of his own game.
“He (Kohli) fell for the same plan all the time. On this occasion, the young kid (Konstas) got under his skin. Kohli reacted in a way, if you were sitting in the change room, you would have said, ‘we’ve got ’em here, we’ve broken the back of India’,” Haddin said.
Kohli scored just 190 runs in nine innings in the series, and was dismissed by edging a ball outside the off-stump each time.
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