The Reason Behind Usman Khawaja's Gesture Towards Virat Kohli During a Tense Exchange with Sam Konstas

During the 4th Test between India and Australia at the MCG, Usman Khawaja found himself in the perfect spot to witness the clash between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas on Day 1. As Konstas' partner at the non-striker end, Khawaja was right there when the shoulder-push incident occurred. Quick to intervene in the heated exchange, Khawaja stepped in along with the umpire to calm things down. In a moment captured on camera, Khawaja was seen putting his arms around Kohli's shoulder, trying to defuse the tension on the field.

What was that about?

"I've known Virat a long time. He came to the academy when I was in the Under-19. We've been mates for a long time. So I was like, 'chill, go out. I'll talk to him. You chill; and I'll sort this out. Yeah, it was fine," Khawaja said after the match.

When asked to detail what he said to Virat, Khawaja kept it under the wraps. "You don't need to know everything. Come on guys, seriously. What goes on the field, stays on the field," the Australian opener, 38, said with a laugh.

The Kohli-Konstas episode emerged as the biggest talking point of the opening day of the Boxing Day Test, even as four of Australia's top-order batters recorded a fifty each and Jasprit Bumrah once again became India's saviour with the ball, picking up three crucial wickets including that was the dangerous Travis Head. In fact, Khawaja was Bumrah's first wicket, mistiming a pull straight to KL Rahul at square leg.

India's coach has no idea what was said

As for the conversation between Kohli and Konstas, no one, barring the three present on the scene, knows what was said and spoken. India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar isn't in the loop either. "Honestly, I don't know. We were having a conversation outside about something else completely so I am not aware of what happened, why it happened and if anything happened. But when you play a game like that, there's always going to be emotions but I am pretty sure it's not as big as it seems," he said during India's post-match press conference.

Kohli was fined 20 percent of his match fee and handed a demerit point by the ICC for his act, while Konstas escaped unscathed.

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