Sam Konstas was at the center of a fiery exchange with Indian stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah amid a dramatic end to the opening day of the final Test at the SCG, which set up another convincing duel when play resumed on Saturday.
Australia’s response began with just 15 minutes left in the day, and the first ball, Konstas, came down Bumrah’s pitch and whipped it to midwicket. Konstas then exchanged words with Bumrah before what became the penultimate ball of the day after Usman Khawaja walked out of the strike, apparently to try to buy time to ensure he did not there wouldn’t be another one.
Konstas turned to Bumrah and appeared to say something, prompting referee Sharfuddula to intervene. The next delivery came through the outside off stump. Then, with the last ball of the day, Bumrah brought Khawaja to second slip, and immediately turned and met Konstas’ eyes from the non-striker’s side and took a few steps towards him, before being joined by several teammates, including Virat Kohli, in an exuberant celebration.
“I feel like they had a little chat,” Rishabh Pant said of the exchange. “They wanted to waste time. I think that’s why he had a conversation with Jassi. [Bumrah]. Il [Konstas] said something, I didn’t hear it, but I think that’s the only thing he wanted to do to just waste time and not fight anymore.
The Indian players were animated as they left the field, having been bowled out a few minutes earlier for 185, while Konstas walked away a few yards behind Khawaja, with Australia 9 for 1.
“It was an interesting encounter,” Beau Webster said of the start of the Australian round. “I was sitting next to Heady [Travis Head] in the rooms watching TV and the first ball he [Konstas] ran and hit it to mid-wicket. There was almost no surprise anymore, it was as if he was there, he was absent.
“Sammy is a very confident young man, that’s what they do these days, these young guys, they take it and go for it. He’s got all the skills and talent to back him up, so I hope he has a really good day tomorrow and scores some points.
The selection of Konstas in the latter part of the series had a dramatic impact. He hit 60 off 65 balls in his first innings at the MCG, where he regularly picked up Bumrah, and during his stay he was hit by Kohli between overs. Bumrah fought back against Konstas in the second innings by removing him for 8.
On the field, Konstas was heavily involved with the packed MCG crowd and in the final innings, as Australia pushed towards victory, there was a vocal presence around the bat.
“He plays with a lot of flair,” Scott Boland said. Fox cricket. “He’s definitely in their shoes. You can see it in the final moments there.
Speaking ahead of the SCG Test, Konstas’ mentor Shane Watson said he was surprised by the 19-year-old’s outgoing nature.
“My experience relating and working with Sam has been a very quiet and reserved personality,” he said. “[He’s] a very deep thinker and certainly not extroverted. But obviously what we saw in the Test match is that he is absolutely a showman.
Bumrah’s late strike will raise India’s hopes of yet another huge performance from him to cap off a stellar series, with the visitors needing to win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I think there’s definitely a method to batting on this wicket, but Jasprit is a world-class bowler and he’s definitely going to challenge our entire batting group,” Webster said. “He’s phenomenal with his lengths and his lines, it’s going to be tough on a wicket that will give him quite a few.”
Pant admitted that India would have liked a few more runs, but was confident in India’s ability to remain competitive in the match.
“I don’t think it’s a normal score, I think anything over 220 to 250 would be a normal score,” he said. “But it’s still a very competitive score because the way the ball is moving now, I think there’s a lot of help for the bowler and hopefully we can take advantage of that.”
