AUS vs IND: Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey on Wednesday opened up Sam Konstas and Virat Kohli’s bumping incident which took place on the first day at the Melbourne Test and said that the Aussie youngster didn’t take it to heart.
Australia clinched a thrilling 184-run victory over India in the Melbourne Test and took a 2-1 lead in the series, also ending India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s early next year. Currently, Australia lead 2-1 over India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Carey said that he saw a photo of Konstas and Kohli shaking hands after the end of the Melbourne Test. The wicketkeeper-batsman added that he is not 100 per cent sure of what happened between the two cricketers.
“I think I saw a photo of them shaking hands and a little tap on the back. Oh, it’s Test Cricket. Yeah, I’m not 100% sure. But Sam didn’t take it to heart,” Carey said. The 19-year-old Konstas was called into the squad in place of Nathan McSweeney and had an uphill task to open for Australia in front of a sell-out crowd against a proven Indian pace attack.
Konstas was entertaining throughout his stay on the crease and became a popular face among Australian fans. He made the headlines with a sublime ramp shot off Bumrah in the first inning at the Melbourne Test, declaring his intent to be aggressive even against the brand-new red ball.
Konstas’ much-anticipated debut in Australia turned out to be one of the most entertaining in a long while. Not only did the 19-year-old make headlines by toying with Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and scoring 34 of his 60 runs against him, but Virat also got involved in a heated exchange with the youngster after bumping into him, making a direct physical. shoulder-to-shoulder contact.
The 36-year-old was fined 20 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and handed over one demerit point for this altercation.
Australia set a target of 340 runs to India at the start of Day 05 of the Melbourne Test. The visitors had the whole day but couldn’t make it count. Fiery spells from the Aussie bowling attack bundled out India at 155 in the 80th over.
India will take on Australia in the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.