‘Kohli was bang out of order’: India great draws ex-England star’s ire for role in BGT flare-up

The 19-year-old Konstas left the Indians rattled on the morning of the first day of the fourth Test as he took the risk of scooping Jasprit Bumrah and throwing him off his lines. The ploy worked and India responded by ramping up the aggression on Konstas. In this cauldron, Kohli knocked shoulders with Konstas in between overs.

“What happened with Kohli there – Kohli was bang out of order. Virat Kohli should have been banned for what he did. You know how much I love Virat Kohli and what he has done for the game, but there’s a line, and you do not cross it,” Harmison told the talkSPORT Cricket podcast. Kohli evaded suspension and was instead docked 20 percent of his match fee.

A series to forget for Kohli

Kohli endured a tough series in Australia, managing just 190 runs at an average of less than 24, it included an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, but he struggled to maintain consistency. He kept committing the same mistake – edging the ball outside off stump behind the stumps to the wicketkeeper or slip cordon. The batting maestro came under scrutiny for not showing enough patience and getting dismissed in the same fashion throughout the series.

Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had said that the fact that Kohli reacted in the way he did to Sam Konstas would’ve given the hosts a boost. “He fell for the same plan all the time. On this occasion, the young kid got under his skin. He [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,” said Haddin.