19-year-old Sam Konstas on his Test debut made heads turn when he decided to take on Jasprit Bumrah. Konstas was not in a mood to hang around and played a few unorthodox-yet-extravagant shots to woo the crowd at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). He hit Bumrah for two sixes. Bumrah conceded 18 runs in an over, the most in his Test career. Reacting to the Konstas onslaught that got everyone talking about the young talent, Bumrah said that he is used to onslaughts like this considering the amount of T20 cricket he has played.
"I have experienced heaps of it. I have played T20s for the last 12 years of my life. Interesting batsman. I always felt that I was in the game, I never felt that I was far away from taking his wicket, maybe even 6-7 times in the first two overs. But you know, that's how cricket goes. Some days it pays off, it looks good, and some days it does not. I love different challenges and I am always looking forward to it," Bumrah told the broadcaster before the start of Day 3's play.
Konstas scored 60 runs from 65 balls. His entertaining knock featured six fours and a couple of sixes. He was eventually dismissed lbw by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. It will be interesting to see how he tackles Bumrah in the second innings. The experienced Indian pacer was not wrong in his assessment as Konstas had less than 60 per cent control of his shots in his knock.
Bumrah's comeback
While Konstas spoiled Bumrah's opening spell, he came back well to dismiss opener Usman Khawaja with a short ball. With the old ball, Bumrah came round the wicket and knocked over the in-form Travis Head. He followed it up with the wicket of Mitchell Marsh for a single-digit score. He wrapped up Australia's innings by trapping Nathan Lyon in front of the crease. Australia posted 474 on the board from 122.4 overs. Bumrah bowled 28.4 overs including nine maidens and conceded 99 runs.
Konstas' heated exchange with Kohli
While Konstas took on Bumrah, his altercation with Virat Kohli took centrestage. Kohli bumped into Konstas and the two were involved in a heated exchange before Usman Khawaja and the umpires intervened.
Later, Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point the by the International Cricket Council (ICC).