"Hayden, Gilchrist and all used to make a lot of noise from behind but never touched us" - Irfan Pathan on Virat Kohli shoulder-barging Sam Konstas

Irfan Pathan has criticized Virat Kohli for making physical contact with Sam Konstas on Day 1 of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test. He pointed out that the likes of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist used to sledge him a lot when he was a youngster but never touched him.

Konstas scored 60 runs off 65 deliveries on debut as Australia posted 311/6 in their first innings in Melbourne on Thursday, December 26. Kohli shoulder-barged the 19-year-old during an over break, which led to a slightly heated discussion between the duo.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about his thoughts on the Kohli-Konstas incident.

"Stay away from contact. You cannot contact a player. You can show aggression and support your players. He is a 19-year-old boy. When we were 19-year-old boys, Hayden, Gilchrist and all used to make a lot of noise from behind but never touched us. So you could have avoided that on the cricket field," he replied.

The former India all-rounder added that Indian fans wouldn't have liked it had Steve Smith made similar contact with one of their debutants.

"I have a question. If it had been Steve Smith, who is Australia's senior player, and one of our 19-year-old boys was making his debut, and he had come and pushed like that, would we have liked it? We would have not liked it at all. Same thing," Pathan observed.

Irfan Pathan pointed out that the contact was avoidable because Virat Kohli had changed his angle of approach. He added that it's better if the aggression is shown by staying far.

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"This was not required at all" - Sunil Gavaskar on the Virat Kohli-Sam Konstas incident

Usman Khawaja and the umpire stepped in to defuse the situation. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Sunil Gavaskar concurred with Irfan Pathan's views.

"I totally agree because this was not required at all. Even if we are on a busy pedestrian road, if someone comes from the other side, we move aside slightly. No one will consider you small if you move aside, that your status fell because you moved aside," he said.

The former India opener expressed hope that Virat Kohli wouldn't be banned because of the incident.

"I feel the match referee will definitely call both of them and then decide what needs to be done. Whenever body contact has happened, the ICC have taken strict action. It happened between Gautam Gambhir and Shane Watson as well. I feel Gambhir was probably banned for one game there. We just hope that Virat Kohli is not banned because of what happened," Gavaskar observed.

Kohli escaped a ban for the incident. He has been fined 20 percent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point.