Kohliflower's aggro culture gets a knock

Virat Kohli ko gussa kyun aata hai? Frustration would be a reasonable answer. However much we love our man going through a patch of bad form, we saw what we saw: Kohli aggressively bumping into debutant batter Sam Konstas, who was mid-flight in his terrific knock, clanging scapula to scapula, as the Aussie stepped across to speak to his teammate at the other end of the pitch. Melbourne Test match referee has fined Kohli 20% of his match fee. Remember, along with Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, Kohliji - having a Grade A+ category BCCI contract - gets a match fee of ₹15 lakh per Test match. So, that's a ₹3 lakh fine. More than fair enough.

All fair in love and Test cricket, you say? The Aussies invented sledging, so a bit of 'contact sport' is legit? Well, getting aggro with a body-thump is of a way higher order than trying to verbally rile off a player in the opposite camp. Not to sound all righteous and all, but Kohli's action and demeanour were all about Konstas getting under his skin - no mean feat for a 19-yr-old to inflict on a 36-yr-old ex-captain. In fact, it's Konstas who came out of the melee with swag when, at the post-match press conference, he said, 'I think he accidentally bumped me. But I think that's just cricket, just the tension.' Virat, you're the one looking a bit like a Kohliflower, mate.