Sunil Gavaskar slams Australian media for labelling Virat Kohli 'clown' after altercation with Sam Konstas

Sunil Gavaskar isn't pleased with the Australian media for labelling Virat Kohli as a 'clown' after his altercation with Sam Konstas on the opening day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test. For the unversed, Kohli, in an attempt to sledge the 19-year-old debutant, barged his shoulder into him and was also penalised for the same.

ICC match referee Andy Pycroft deemed his actions inappropriate and fined 20% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. He was also handed a demerit point. However, the Australian media made the mountain of a molehill labelling the legendary Indian cricketer 'clown' in the newspaper the very next morning. Gavaskar wasn't happy with it and expressed his displeasure as well. He reckoned that Kohli is one of the greatest ever in the game and after ICC punished, there was no need for the media to create any ruckus.

"The kind of legacy Virat Kohli has created, He is one of the Greatest Ever to play this game in the history. You can't do these things against him," Gavaskar said. The crowd was also constantly teasing Kohli after the incident with Konstas during India's fielding. The Indian batter was also booed after he got out late on Day 2 after scoring 36 runs off 86 deliveries with four fours to his name.

Meanwhile, Australia are dominating the Boxing Day Test with India succumbing to a good position in the last 30 minutes of the day. They collapsed from being 153/2 to 159/5 in a space of 21 deliveries much to the disappointment of the Indian fans. The visitors finished the day on 164/5 in response to Australia's 474 in the first innings. Steve Smith was the hero for them smashing his 34th Test century earlier in the day.