- India have blasted Australia as ‘soft’ following the Border-Gavaskar Series
- The visitors claimed Australia had ‘no right’ to wind up one of thier key stars
- Australia clinched a 3-1 series win after claiming victory in Sydney on Sunday
India have fired one last shot at Sam Konstas, calling Australia ‘soft’ for suggesting Jasprit Bumrah and his teammates had intimidated the teenager during the decisive SCG Test.
After Australia’s six-wicket win that sealed victory in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, coach Gautam Gambhir insisted Konstas had ‘no right’ to chirp at Bumrah and spark a confrontation that increased tensions to boiling point on day one.
The 19-year-old opening batter had seemingly attempted to waste time late in the day to guard against the chance of a wicket falling if another over was bowled under lights.
But the tactic backfired and Konstas found himself stormed by Indian players at the non-strikers end when Bumrah took Usman Khawaja’s wicket on the last ball of the day.
Andrew McDonald said after day two he had checked on Konstas’ welfare after the ‘intimidating’ episode, but Gambhir shrugged at the Australian coach’s concerns on Sunday.
‘It’s a tough sport played by tough men. You can’t be that soft. As simple as it can get,’ he said.
Australia were branded ‘soft’ after suggesting debutant Sam Konstas had ‘no right’ to wind up Jasprit Bumrah during the final Test
Konstas (left) and Bumrah (right) exchanged words during the Test on day one of the Sydney Test
India coach Gautam Gambhir (second from left) said you ‘cannot be soft’ in Test cricket responded to Andrew McDonald’s claims that he had to check in on Konstas after the incident
‘I don’t think there was anything intimidating about it. He had no right to be talking to Jasprit Bumrah when Usman Khawaja was taking time. He had no right.
‘He had no business to be involved with Jasprit Bumrah, that was a job for the umpire.’
Gambhir was nonchalant when asked for his opinions on Virat Kohli’s physical confrontation with Konstas at the MCG, where tensions between India and the teenager were first inflamed.
‘I think whatever has happened is history. Whatever happened happened. It is a tough sport played by tough men and these things happen,’ he said.
‘I don’t think we need to make a big issue out of it.
‘It is not just incidents that have happened in this series. It has happened in the past as well. A lot of Australian players in the past have done it as well. We keep making a big deal out of these things.’
Gambhir, primarily an opener across 58 Tests, said Konstas had potential at the highest level.
‘That’s why he’s playing Test cricket,’ he said.
The Indian coach appeared to suggest Konstas had to learn some lessons from his first two Test matches
Australia would go on to win the Border Gavaskar series and retain the trophy following a 3-1 series win
But the Indian coach suggested Konstas had lessons to learn from his first two Test matches.
The teenager won hearts and minds for his dazzling ramp shots en route to a half-century in his first dig at the MCG, but could not parlay his aggressive approach into big scores in the three innings that followed.
He most notably slogged straight to Washington Sundar as Australia chased 162 for victory in the second innings at the SCG.
‘Obviously Test cricket is all about improving every day and sometimes you can’t just go out there and keep smashing from ball one,’ Gambhir said.
‘You’ve got to respect red-ball cricket as well. Hopefully he learns from these experiences. When you’re playing against a high-quality attack like India, this will be a great learning for him going forward.’
