The incident of Australian media calling Virat Kohli a joker has created a stir in the cricket world. On Friday, Virat Kohli was depicted as a joker on the back page of The West Australian newspaper, which Indian cricket fans and former cricketers called not only wrong but also insulting. In fact, Kohli has been targeted by the Australian media after his heated clash with Sam Constas during the recent Boxing Day Test. This controversy further escalated when ICC fined Kohli 20% of his match fee and also gave him one demerit point.
Dispute between Kohli and Constas on Boxing Day
On Thursday, on the first day of the fourth Test match being played in Melbourne, Virat Kohli hit Australian teenager Sam Constas on the shoulder. The incident happened after the 10th over, when Kohli had a confrontation on the field with debutant Constas. ICC, on its recommendation in this matter, decided to impose a fine of 20% of the match fee and one demerit point on Kohli. But Australian media is criticizing Kohli considering this decision as less. The West Australian newspaper portrayed Kohli as a joker and gave the headline “Joker Kohli”, which was shocking to Indian cricket fans and former players.
ICC gave punishment, but was it right?
Australian media says that the punishment given to Virat Kohli was very light. Former captain Ricky Ponting, commentating on Australian Channel 7, also commented that the punishment given to Kohli was too lenient. Ponting said, “Giving exemption to Kohli can have an impact in the future. This is not a harsh punishment for a legend like Kohli.” He also believed that if harsher punishment was imposed on Kohli, it could have had a positive impact on his game.
Indian cricketers’ anger
Indian cricketers have expressed displeasure over this attack and termed it completely wrong. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan rejected the criticism, saying that “calling Kohli a joker is not acceptable.” Pathan believes that Kohli’s behavior was inappropriate, but that does not mean that the media should target him in this manner. He said, “It is wrong to target a legend cricketer like Virat Kohli in this way.”
At the same time, cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar also gave his opinion on this issue and said, “You use a legend player like Virat Kohli to promote your cricket, and then call him a joker. This is not correct.” He also said that the ICC completely justified the punishment given to Virat, as it was the maximum punishment in such cases.
Australian media criticism
There has been a huge dissatisfaction in the Indian cricket world regarding the Australian media. Many cricket experts believe that the Australian media always stands in favor of its own country’s players, and criticizes against foreign players. While the name of Indian captain Rohit Sharma was prominent in this matter, the media gave more importance to former captain Virat Kohli. Gavaskar expressed deep concern over this issue and said, “On one hand you use Virat Kohli’s brand and on the other you make him a villain. This is completely wrong.”
ICC’s attitude and controversy
Gavaskar also said that this year many such incidents have come to light in which players have been involved in controversies, but no strictness was shown regarding ICC’s action. For example, Josh Hazlewood was fined only 15% of his match fee for such a brawl, while Jasprit Bumrah was given a similar punishment. But Virat Kohli was fined 20% of his match fee and one demerit point, which was the maximum punishment as per ICC rules. Yet the Australian media has described this as a soft attitude towards Kohli, which is wrong.
Australian media perspective
The Australian media has always had an adversarial attitude towards Indian players, especially Virat Kohli. Whenever there is any dispute between Kohli and Australian players, the media leaves no chance to air it. It is interesting to see that this time the way the Indian cricket world has reacted to the comments made by the media against Kohli, it is adding to the controversy.
Punishment on Virat Kohli and role of media
Kohli’s behavior was at the center of this controversy, but the media’s attitude against him was much harsher. The punishment given by the ICC was the maximum under the rules, but still the media described it as mild. This cricket controversy has become more than just a game, in which the war between the players and the media is clearly visible. This incident is another lesson for the Indian cricket world, where many questions are being raised regarding the relationship between the media and the players.
