Khawaja: 'I like the emotion but didn’t want it to be tainted by physical contact'

Khawaja was at the crease when the incident took place in the 10th over of the Australian innings on the opening day of the fourth Test here

Several former players disapproved of Virat Kohli’s avoidable tiff with young Sam Konstas on Thursday while Australia opener Usman Khawaja said he stepped in to diffuse the tension because he did not want the situation to go out of hands.

Khawaja was at the crease when the incident took place in the 10th over of the Australian innings on the opening day of the fourth Test here. While crossing over, Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders and quickly turned around to glance at each other, engaging in a heated exchange of words.

“I like the emotion. There was a bit of chirp going on between Sam and (Jasprit) Bumrah and Virat the whole time. But I didn’t want it to be tainted by any physical contact,” Khawaja told the ABC. Khawaja immediately stepped in to separate them, putting his arm around Kohli. The on-field umpires also had a word with the two, as things cooled down rather quickly.

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