New Delhi: Australian teenage sensation Sam Konstas has discussed the confrontations he had with Indian stars Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah during the Border-Gavaskar series, while also sharing details about a chat with Kohli following the shoulder-bump incident in the Boxing Day Test, saying he told the Indian star that he “idolises him.”
Konstas made his Australia Test debut in the Boxing Day Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, replacing Nathan McSweeney, and scored 60 off 65 balls, scooping Jasprit Bumrah for fun in the early passage of play, leaving everyone enthralled. Though Bumrah took him out in the second innings, Konstas has left everyone in Australia excited about the player he can be in the future.
“It was my first time playing in front of 90,000 people on day one at the MCG, and I was like, ‘holy crap, this is surreal. Playing against legends of the game like Kohli and Bumrah and playing with legends like Steve Smith and Pat Cummins, it is what I’ve dreamt of as a kid and I was just trying to soak up every second of it really. I’m very fortunate as a 19-year-old to be getting that experience and learning from the best,” Konstas told CODE Sports.
The teen opener also found himself at the center of an on-field confrontation with Kohli during a gripping session of play when Konstas was in the midst of an impressive inning and Kohli bumped into the youngster in between overs.
But, the 19-year-old revealed he sought him out with Kohli as the two had a chat after the game and the India star gave him best wishes for the Sri Lanka tour.
“I had a little chat after the game telling him that I idolise him, and it’s obviously a huge honour playing against him. When I did verse him, I was like, ‘wow, Virat Kohli is batting.’ He just had that presence about him, all the Indian crowd getting amongst it. Chanting his name. It was quite surreal,” Konstas said.
“He was very down to earth. A lovely person and just wishing me all the best saying hopefully I go well on the tour of Sri Lanka he said if I’m in. My whole family loves Virat. I’ve idolised him from a young age and he’s a legend of the game,” he added.
In the Sydney Test, Konstas found himself involved a heated moment with Bumrah. He revealed the exchange stemmed from him trying to waste time to prevent India from bowling another over before the end of the day.
I feel like I love being in the contest and trying to put my best foot forward. I feel like it’s probably a good learning for me. I was trying to waste a little bit of time there so they didn’t get another over. But he (Bumrah) had the last laugh. Obviously he is world class and he took, what, 32 wickets in the series. If that happened again, maybe I wouldn’t have said anything,” he said.
