NEW DELHI: Former India coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday heaped praise on Australian teenager Sam Konstas for his fearless approach against Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah during the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
On his Test debut, Konstas delivered a remarkable performance, scoring 60 runs from 65 deliveries to give Australia a solid start. His aggressive batting display included six fours and two maximums. The promising innings concluded in the 20th over when he fell to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Shastri lauded Konstas stating that the young batter tore the MCC coaching manual to shreds.
“I don’t think anyone’s taken or treated Bumrah like that in any format of the game, let alone red-ball cricket. For him to go out there with that swag and attempt some outrageous shots — it was something else. He tore that MCC coaching manual to shreds,” Shastri said on Star Sports.
In a remarkable display of batting prowess, Konstas launched a fierce assault on India’s premier fast bowler Bumrah early in the first session. The aggressive batter dominated the 11th over, extracting 18 runs off Bumrah’s bowling, which became the pacer’s costliest over in his Test career till date.
Konstas’s onslaught included two boundaries, a powerful six and a pair of well-run twos, surpassing Bumrah’s previous record of 16 runs conceded in an over against Australia at the same ground in 2020.
“At one point, it felt like India had run out of ideas. They actually didn’t know what hit them. Initially, he missed the first two shots, and there was a smile on the faces of the Indian players. They thought, ‘If he takes chances, we’ll get him quickly.’ But as soon as this started happening, all the smiles disappeared. The ideas disappeared,” Shastri added.
Australia concluded the opening day’s play at 311 for six wickets after choosing to bat first, with impressive half-centuries from their top four batters.