Australia's latest debutant Sam Konstas has shown in his short stint in international cricket that he is an entertaining character. Konstas made a dream debut at the MCG against India with a scintillating fifty.
But the road to his fifty was eventful for him as he was involved in a shoulder clash with India's senior cricketer Virat Kohli. The incident followed heated exchanges between the two.
Recently, Konstas was seen imitating Kohli's shoulder barge on the second day of the Melbourne Test. He gathered the crowd's attention as he began to move his shoulder. The home crowd rose to their feet after seeing Konstas and supported him for such actions.
Read also: 'It's crazy': Rishabh Pant ripped by former Australia star for 'reckless tackle' at MCG
Watch: Sam Konstas mocks Virat Kohli
The Australian crowd and audience were extremely hostile towards Virat Kohli after the shoulder collision with Sam Konstas. The Australian media even used words like “bully” and “clown” for the former India captain.
The Virat Kohli vs Sam Konstas incident
Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas were involved in a shoulder collision on the first day of the Boxing Day Test. After the tenth over of Australia's innings, Kohli appeared to change direction suddenly and shouldered into Konstas.
Kohli returned as the two players shared a few verbal salvos with each other. Neither of them backed down as Usman Khawaja, Konstas' opening partner, had to step in and separate the two.
After the end of the day, the ICC found Virat Kohli guilty of the offense and fined him 20% of his match fees. Kohli accepted the offence, and consequently there was no need for another hearing.
However, Konstas seemed unfazed by the occasion and continued to attack the Indian bowlers. He played some bold shots against India's number one fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and put him under pressure with spoons and reverse spoons. The youngster scored 60 off 65 balls in the first Test innings.
Sam Konstas got Australia off to a great start
Australia, meanwhile, got off to a flying start thanks to Sam Konstas' excellent hitting at the top. Usman Khawaja gave him good company with a good half-century. Marnus Labuschagne failed to turn another start into a big one and was dismissed for a well done 72.
But it was Steve Smith who started the show as he smashed 140 off 197 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. Smith went along nicely with the tailenders to take Australia to a strong first innings total of 474. Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for India with 4-99.
In reply, the Australian bowlers were excellent and took Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul cheaply. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli got the innings on track with a good 102-run partnership. However, Jaiswal's wicket opened the floodgates for Australia as India lost 3-6 in quick succession.
All-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar proved to be the unlikely stars of the third day for India as both were going well as they pushed India past the next mark.