Former England pacer Steve Harmison believes that Virat Kohli should have been banned for the heated altercation that he had with Australia’s Sam Konstas in the Melbourne Test. Harmison also issued a warning to Konstas about provoking opposition players and emphasized that the 19-year-old will face significant challenges against England in the upcoming Ashes series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What happened with Kohli there \u2013 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\u2019s a line, and you do not cross it,\u201d Harmison told the\u00a0talkSPORT Cricket\u00a0podcast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the incident, the International Cricket Council (ICC) fined Kohli 20 per cent of his match fee. This was done so because Kohli had made physical contact with Konstas and his actions breached ICC’s Code of Conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harmison also advised Konstas to improve his defensive technique rather than trying to emulate former Australia opener David Warner and his attacking playstyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sam has got the scoops, he\u2019s got the big shots. But does he have the defensive technique for Test match cricket against the world\u2019s best? That\u2019s something he needs to figure out. If he gets it right, he has a great chance because he can be aggressive and has a good mindset for attacking the ball. But I just think he wants to be David Warner, and technically, he\u2019s nowhere near as good as Warner,\u201d Harmison said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s opening the batting against England, I\u2019d be happy. I really would. But he\u2019s only 19, and he\u2019s going to improve. However, if he continues to be aggressive verbally, he\u2019ll face consequences. India is one thing, but the Ashes \u2013 with all the pressure it brings \u2013 is another level entirely. I\u2019ve no issue with him having a go at India; he tried to rile them up because they were wasting time, and India got Khawaja out and won. But the Ashes will be a different challenge,\u201d Harmison said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ex-England star in question here is Steve Harmison who believes that Kohli should have been banned by the ICC for making physical contact with Konstas in MCG Test<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":665,"featured_media":1217941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[401,98105,11725,144],"yoast_head":"\n