Former India captain Virat Kohli stole the headlines after a shoulder bump with Australian debutant Sam Konstas on Day 1 of the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).

The incident sparked a huge debate in the cricket fraternity with the Indian and Australian media playing their part.

In the wake of the Kohli-Konstas fiasco, Kohli’s former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate and former England international Kevin Pietersen came out in favor of the Indian.

Pietersen took to his social media account X (formerly Twitter) and praised the ‘showman’ in Kohli.

Pietersen wrote on X: “Virat creates theater in Australia! Come on! Imagine how boring it would be without the showman! And he has earned EVERYTHING with his racing throughout his career! Many would end their successful international careers with 1/4 of what he has achieved…”

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Virat Kohli faced the Australian public

Notably, Kohli was a constant face on television and broadcasts ever since his encounter with Sam Konstas. When he came out to bat on Day 2, he faced constant boos from the home crowd.

However, he managed to rise above the noise and struck patiently. Although he got off to a great start, Kohli failed to capitalize on it and retired after a 36-ball 86. Earlier, he was also involved in a race in which Yashasvi Jaiswal missed a century and had to depart for a well-made 82. .

Even as Kohli returned to the dressing room, he had a moment where the Australian crowd started booing him and he emerged from the players’ tunnel to give them a dirty look.

Talking about the match, the Indian team is currently on the back foot having lost half of their team with a score of 164. The visitors are currently trailing by 310 runs, after Australia posted 474 in their first innings.

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