Ravi Shastri is very unhappy with Virat Kohli over Sam Konstas altercation and says, ‘Senior Star…’

Indian star Virat Kohli faced 19-year-old Australian opener Sam Konstas early on the first day of the fourth Test in Melbourne. During the ninth over, the duo clashed shoulders, prompting Kohli to turn around, glare at Konstas and exchange a few words. Although former Australian captain Ricky Ponting suggested that Kohli was in the wrong, the 36-year-old escaped without a ban and was instead fined 20 percent of his match fees by the International Cricket Council (ICC), sources told NDTV. Now, Ravi Shastri – who shared a good relationship with Kohli during his time as Team India’s head coach – has commented on the matter.

“It’s unnecessary. Completely unnecessary. You don’t want to see that. Virat is an experienced player, he was captain of the team, he will have his own explanations about it but that is something you don’t want to see,” Shastri said on Fox Cricket.

The collision between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas was “completely unnecessary,” says Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri doesn’t hold back pic.twitter.com/JPKnoA1hBA

— . (@Devx_07) December 26, 2024

“One person who will be involved, however, is Andy Pycroft,” Shastri added with a laugh.

Pycroft is the ICC match referee for the Boxing Day Test, which also happens to be his 100th Test match as a match referee.

As it turned out, Kohli was let off with a slap on the wrist, which the ICC deemed a Level 1 offence. According to NDTV sources, Kohli was fined 20 percent of his match fees, the same penalty was also imposed on Mohammed Siraj after the second Test in Adelaide following his fiery dismissal of Travis Head.

The incident wasn’t the only time Kohli was in high spirits on Thursday. Later, Kohli was also caught on stump microphone asking Siraj to “not smile while talking to the Australian players”.

Australia ended Day 1 on top, reaching 311/6 at stumps. The team’s top four batters all scored half-centuries.