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“They don’t like him.”: The dynamic between Konstas and the Indian team
Jordan Moll • January 4th, 2025 12:54 pm
In the waning moments of play on day one we saw how much Sam Konstas has changed the dynamic of this test series.
As Usman Khawaja attempted to make sure that it was the last over of the day, Jasprit Bumrah began to show his frustration, and then the verbal volleys started.
The 19-year-old, who was at the non-striker's end, proceeded to walk towards Bumrah, saying his partner wasn’t ready, and a confrontation ensued.
Then the cricket gods decided to put more drama into this series, with Khawaja being caught behind on the last ball of the day, resulting in a massive send-off from the Indian team towards Konstas, the not-out batsman.
Bumrah gave Konstas a stare-down while the rest of the Indian team ran past the youngster and told them how they felt; you would have thought Konstas was out.
Before play on day two, Simon Katich and Damien Fleming gave their thoughts on the verbal volleys between Konstas, Bumrah and the entire Indian team.
“They don’t like him (Konstas); they are looking for any little thing, and he looks like he doesn’t care,” Fleming said on SEN Cricket.
“Not too many 19-year-olds would be brave enough to do that to the world's best bowler,” Katich said.
From the moment Konstas began his innings in Melbourne, the Indian team has attempted to verbally and physically intimidate him.
With Virat Kohli copping a 20% match fee fine in Melbourne for his shoulder charge, combined with his celebration after the Khawaja wicket yesterday, showcases how the dynamic in India's behaviour has changed.
Bumrah, who has taken 31 wickets this series, has been simply unplayable, and the only time he hasn’t looked in control of a contest was in that first innings in Melbourne when Konstas took the fight to him.
But with how dominant he has been, poking the bear might have been a fatal mistake by Konstas.
“I’ve never seen Bumrah behave like that,” Fleming said.
“I wouldn’t be stirring Bumrah up today.”
We will have to see what takes place over Konstas’ two innings in this test, but it’s hard to remember a time when a teenager has caused this much tension with an international cricket side.
“He’s got a bit about him, and he’s not scared to get into a contest,” Katich said.
Tune into all the action on day two of the SCG test live on the SEN app.
