Lord's Test reminds ex-England skipper of Virat Kohli-Sam Konstas episode: 'Forgive me for degrading...'

Lord's Test reminds ex-England skipper of Virat Kohli-Sam Konstas episode

The intense rivalry, involving heated arguments and constant sledging, at the Lord's Test reminded former England captain Mike Atherton of the infamous episode between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas. The third Test, which England won by 22 runs, witnessed plenty of exchanges between players from both sides and Mohammed Siraj was also penalised by the ICC for his on-field conduct towards England opener Ben Duckett.

The incident between Siraj and Duckett took place in the opening session of Day 4 when Siraj aggressively celebrated Duckett's dismissal and then made contact with the batter as he was returning to the Lord's Long Room. In addition to receiving one demerit point, Siraj was also fined 15 percent of his match fee.

Atherton addressed the issue and urged for moderation, saying that although intense passion is a part of the allure of Test cricket, physical altercations such as the one between Brydon Carse and Ravindra Jadeja or Kohli's shoulder barge with Konstas has no place on the field.

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"Forgive me for degrading the report of a great match with this nonsense, but wouldn't spectators rather see players caring too much, rather than too little, about playing Tests. No one, of course, wants to see physical altercations on the field of play, or sustained nasty verbal abuse. There should be no place, for example, for the shoulder barge that Virat Kohli initiated in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last Christmas, when he diverted from his path to deliberately walk into Sam Konstas. In a match where there was plenty of spice and niggle, tempers flared as Carse and Jadeja collided mid-pitch, although the impact was entirely accidental, after Jadeja had deflected the ball towards third man, with both players ball-watching rather than minding each other's path," he wrote in his column for The Times.

The incident involving Kohli occurred on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test in December last year. The former India captain intentionally approached Australia batsman Sam Konstas and gave him a shoulder bump, which sparked a furious argument between the two. Despite his actions, Kohli avoided serious consequences when the ICC revealed that he had agreed to pay a fine equal to 20 percent of his match fee.

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Additionally, Atherton compared the Lord's Test match to England's historic victory in the ICC World Cup six years ago at the same venue.

"Six years ago to the day, Lord's had witnessed the most remarkable finish to any cricket match, when the World Cup final was decided on a boundary countback after a Super Over. Now the game delivered an extraordinary finish again, with two of the protagonists from that day, Stokes and Jofra Archer, taking centre stage," Atherton remarked.