Kohli handed demerit point, official warning for ‘inappropriate contact’
India captain Virat Kohli has received a demerit point and an official warning for ‘inappropriate shoulder contact’ in Sunday’s 3rd T20I against South Africa. The ICC found Kohli guilty of a Level 1 breach as per their Code of Conduct.
The incident took place in the fifth over of India’s innings, when Kohli pulled pacer Beuran Hendricks to deep midwicket on the fourth ball. He then brushed his right shoulder against Hendricks’ right while running down the pitch for a single. Kohli is said to have breached Article 2.12 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ”Inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match.”
Virat Kohli: Repeat offender
This is the third time Kohli has found himself breaching the revised code that was introduced in 2016. The Indian skipper now has three demerit points. Last year, in the Centurion Test, his on-field altercation with umpire Michael Gough led to a 25% match fee penalty. Earlier this year, umpire Aleem Dar reprimanded him for “excessive appealing and charging aggressively towards the umpire”, in a World Cup match against Afghanistan. He was fined 25% of his match fee again.
ICC’s revised code suggests that when a player has four or more demerit points in a 24-month span, those are converted into suspension points and the player is banned. That means Kohli is now one demerit point away from a potential ban. The Indian captain admitted the offence and accepted match referee Richie Richardson’s proposed sanction. On-field umpires Nitin Menon and CK Nandan, third umpire Anil Chaudhary and fourth official C Shamshuddin were the ones to level the charge. There was no formal hearing for the same.
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