Virat Kohli's cold shoulder to Konstas' Boxing Day knockout Punch: False bravado over bravery

'Bravery' - A term Virat Kohli has often been associated with throughout his illustrious career, and justifiably so. After all, bravery is one of the many definitions of 'Virat', even in the dictionary.

Yet, a thin line separates that from false bravado, which is a show of courage lacking conviction. Unfortunately, Kohli's ugly shoulder barge with Aussie debutant Sam Konstas in the thrilling opening session of the Boxing Day Test had false bravado written all over it.

Among the numerous uncertainties in the current Indian side, the lone guarantee has been Jasprit Bumrah and his stranglehold on the Australian top order. However, when a 19-year-old cricketing baby in Konstas made the legendary Bumrah look like a mere mortal in front of the packed Melbourne crowd to start the Boxing Day encounter, it felt like a knockout punch for Team India.

The young Aussie opener rattled the usually unflappable Bumrah with scoops and reverse sweeps, reminiscent of a young Virender Sehwag destroying the dominant Australian attack at the same venue in 2003. A stunned Indian side perhaps needed their instigator, Kohli, to unsettle the rampaging rookie and he attempted to do just that.

The Indian superstar clearly changed tracks to bump into Konstas, much to his displeasure. Both players then exchanged unpleasantries before the ever-calm Usman Khawaja and umpire Michael Gough cut the altercation short. Minutes later, Konstas raised his willow for a sparkling 52-ball 50 that soon turned into a sparkling 65-ball 60 on debut.

Kohli's act of messing with the youngster's psyche and inspiring his own side had clearly backfired and a long hard Day 1 toil followed for Team India, thanks to Konstas' potentially series-changing fireworks.

Kohli's Bully-Ball - No conviction and only self-infliction

Australia v India - Men's 4th Test Match: Day 1 - Source: Getty

All the talk leading up to the Boxing Day Test was about Sam Konstas replacing Nathan McSweeney as a ploy to unsettle the ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah. Yet, a teenager on debut in front of a packed MCG crowd even considering an all-out attack on the world's best bowler was too far-fetched a thought, until it turned into a nightmarish reality for India and their fans.

After talking the talk, Konstas was walking the walk, something Kohli has done time and again on Australian soil. However, on this particular day, King Kohli's shoulder-barge act lacked any conviction and bordered on stupidity.

Not only did the Indian star help Konstas concentrate better to inflict more pain on the tourists, but he also added more pressure on himself, if there wasn't enough already.

The 36-year-old has been in dismal Test form, seemingly forever, with only three centuries in his last 37 outings, covering a five-year span. The once-unfathomable question about Kohli's place in the Indian Test side has been doing the rounds on a daily basis, thanks to his vulnerabilities outside off-stump and sub-par recent numbers.

His and the team's performance in the final two Tests of the ongoing series could have a telling impact on the foreseeable future. At such a time, what was the need for Kohli to invite more eyeballs every time the camera pans to him (Like there aren't already!!)? Or maybe, just maybe, Kohli's act was a telling sign of the pressure mounting on him.

Often times, when someone is uncertain about themselves, they embody false bravado and Kohli's act towards Konstas felt like a prime example of that, given his lack of Test form. It lacked any conviction, to the point where even Indian fans, who in the past would love such antics from Kohli when the runs were flowing in equal measure off his willow, were quick to slam their talisman.

Now, all that's left with Kohli is self-infliction of more pressure to deliver with the bat when his turn comes because rest assured, the Aussies will want nothing more than a tit-for-tat for his behavior to their debutant.

Kohli's physical confrontation - Not the first but certainly the most glaring

As bad as the optics of Virat Kohli's shoulder barge looked on television, recency bias can blow things up a bit. Lest we forget, several players of different demeanours in the past have been involved in such physical confrontations on the field of play.

Remember a young Ricky Ponting, dismissed by Harbhajan Singh at Sharjah in 1998, making physical contact with the Indian off-spinner in anger? Or more recently in 2018, when Kagiso Rabada wildly celebrated the wicket of Steve Smith and subsequently made contact with the former Aussie captain.

Yet, those and several such incidents were vastly different from Kohli's act against Konstas at the MCG. For starters, most of them were fair battles, even if unnecessary—two players belonging to similar breadth like Smith and Rabada or a youngster unable to let the feeling of failure sink in, like Ponting.

Here, Kohli is one of the icons of the sport and someone so many budding cricketers look up to, with Konstas himself incidentally being one among them. And the player he tried to bully was a debutant still to turn 20, making it more a cheap shot than a tactical ploy.

Kohli's almost double the age of Konstas makes his act as glaring as any and potentially reputation-damaging. Unfortunately, when a final roll call on legends is performed, these also stick out just as much as the stellar numbers.

Suspension calls for Virat Kohli - Fair or Foul?

While anything Virat Kohli does draws attention like nothing the sport has ever seen, he could not have picked a more nightmarish time and place than a Boxing Day Test in Australia for his shoulder-barging of Sam Konstas.

The Australian media has never been one to let go of an opportunity to pounce on an opposition player and the player being Kohli was only a cherry on top of the cake.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting slammed Kohli for his act by saying on Channel 7:

"Have a look where Virat walks. Virat’s walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind whatsoever. I have no doubt that the umpires and the referee will have a good look at that. Fielders should be nowhere near the batsman at that stage. Every fieldsman on the ground knows where the batsmen will congregate and get together."

Several other former players like Michael Vaughan and Justin Langer shared similar views, forcing the uncomfortable question to be asked - Should Kohli be suspended for his action?

The ICC ruled in favor of Kohli, with the veteran cricketer handed only one demerit point with a 20% deduction of his match fee for the incident.

As per the ICC regulations (article 2.12), Level 3 or 4 offence would be a player making physical contact with a match official, resulting in an almost certain suspension.

However, Kohli's act falls under Level 1 or 2, with the worst possible scenario being four demerit points/two suspension points and a one-Test ban. Thankfully for the former Indian captain, his zero demerit points over the past 24 months meant even three demerit points would have been sufficient for him to escape suspension.

Thus, Indian fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the seemingly inevitable Murphy's Law of 'anything that could go wrong will go wrong' misfired for once and Kohli will play the final Test at Sydney. Yet, with all eyes now even more fixated on him, the out-of-form batter must produce results with the willow to silence the growing criticisms.

Unfortunately for Kohli, he may have been dealt a Konstas knockout on 'Boxing' Day even before his turn to respond with the bat arrived. Only time will tell if the champion cricketer flinches or flexes his muscles.