Indian fans have expressed outrage after the Australian media’s depiction of Virat Kohli as a “clown” on the back page of The West Australian, following a controversial incident with Australian debutant Sam Konstas during the Boxing Day Test.
The newspaper’s graphic showing Kohli with a clown nose and the headline “Clown Kohli” quickly went viral, sparking a wave of backlash from fans across India. Many supporters of Kohli took to social media to condemn the portrayal, with some suggesting that the media should have highlighted Konstas’s debut rather than mocking Kohli’s actions.
The controversy arose after a heated exchange between Kohli and Konstas during the match. Although Kohli was not penalized severely, the incident stirred strong emotions. Kohli was seen intentionally shouldering Konstas while confronting the Australian bowler aggressively, including during a face-off with Jasprit Bumrah.
As a result, Kohli was fined 20% of his match fee and awarded one demerit point for the altercation, which was classified as a level-one offense by match referee Andy Pycroft. Some cricketing greats, including former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, criticized the relatively mild punishment, suggesting that it might set a troubling precedent. Ponting remarked, “I don’t think it is harsh enough… He is a role model, someone the cricketing world looks up to.”
In the aftermath, India’s batting coach Abhishek Nayar stated that he was unaware of the incident when asked about it during a post-match press conference.
