Australia's teenager Sam Konstas has been very animated throughout the Test. He has been a crowd favourite. On Day 5, Konstas continued to interact with the crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). At one point, Konstas teased the Indian crowd by imitating Virat Kohli's shoulder bump. He did it on Australian fans' request.
On-debut Konstas was on song in the first innings. He was attacking Jasprit Bumrah by playing unorthodox shots. In between overs, Kohli walked towards Konstas and bumped him on the shoulder. The two were involved in a heated exchange and on-field umpire, Usman Khawaja intervened before it could accelerate any further. Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point by the ICC.
On Day 5, Kohli could not hold himself back from going after a delivery outside off stump bowled by Mitchell Starc. Kohli departed after scoring just five runs from 29 balls at the stroke of lunch. This is his fourth single-digit score in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Meanwhile, Konstas continued to get the crowd behind Australian team. Fielding at forward square leg and short leg, he sledged Indian batters, especially opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Konstas out early in second innings
Earlier, on Day 4, the 19-year-old could not follow up the fiery 60-run knock with another. He was knocked over by Bumrah for a single-digit score. Bumrah mocked Konstas by urging the crowd to roar. The opener had hit Bumrah for 18 runs in an over, the most expensive over of the bowler's Test career.
Kohli to retire? Shastri says no
After the first innings, former India head coach Ravi Shastri was asked whether the senior duo Rohit Sharma and Kohli retire after the Test series. While Shastri said that discussions will happen with Rohit after the series, he feels Kohli can play for next few years.
"No, I think Virat Kohli will play. Virat will play for some time, forget the way he got out today. I think he will play for 3 or 4 more years," Shastri said on Star Sports.