Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has voiced his dissatisfaction with the punishment handed to Indian star Virat Kohli following his altercation with young Australian batter Sam Konstas during a tense moment in the ongoing fourth Test match in Melbourne. Ponting believes that the penalty imposed on Kohli was not harsh enough, expressing his disappointment.
Konstas, on the other hand, made a sensational debut, smoking 60 off 65 deliveries. His debut took a different turn when Indian star Virat Kohli bumped into the young star following which both had a heated exchange of words before being separated by the on-field umpire and fellow batter Usman Khawaja. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, was fined 20% of his match fee and one demerit point. But, Ponting was not happy stating that the fine slapped on Kohli wasn't harsh enough.
"Personally, I do not think it [the punishment] was harsh enough. I know there are precedents [where similar infringements have incurred similar-sized penalties] - they have generally been between a 15 and 25 per cent fine but let us have a think about the enormity of yesterday," Ponting said on 7 Cricket.
"It is probably the most-watched day of cricket all year all around the world. Imagine if that happens in a grade game on the weekend now, what is going to happen there? I think people are going to think that that is almost acceptable now."
"And unfortunately for someone like Virat, as we got told as players and as senior players, sometimes it is [the scale of punishment] just different for some people. He is a role model, he is somebody the cricketing world looks up to, so I personally do not think that the fine was harsh enough," he said.