The Indian men’s team, led by skipper Rohit Sharma, is currently involved in a five-match Test series, coined as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia, led by skipper Pat Cummins, down under. The series is nicely poised at 1-1 going into the 4th Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The visitors, India needs to win all the remaining games of the series and hope for a few results to go their way in order to book their spot in the World Test Championship Final (WTC). Australian skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first. The young 19-year-old opening batter Sam Konstas was handed a debut cap. He opened the innings alongside Usman Khawaja and was throwing the Indian bowlers off their plans.
Australia raced to 44 for no loss at the end of the first 10 overs. There was a time between overs when the shoulder bump incident took place involving the 19-year-old youngster Sam Konstas and the former Indian captain, Virat Kohli.
The shoulder bump episode quickly became the talk of the town, with current and former players in the cricket fraternity reacting to the incident. “Both Konstas and Kohli held their grounds whilst walking between the wicket. The young kid not at all overawed by the King!!. More footage has come to light which shows one person held their line,” posted former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar on X, formerly Twitter.
Sam Konstas notched up his maiden half-century on debut and eventually departed in the 20th over of the innings after brisk innings (60 off 65 balls) with the bat for his side. Ravindra Jadeja ended his stay at the crease, providing the first breakthrough for India. The home side Australia is slightly ahead in the contest with a total of 311/6 at the end of the first day’s play at the MCG.
“Probably more disappointing than anything else that your experienced player, one of your best players in the country, as well is quite visibly looking at the wider picture and made a beeline for the youngest player in the opposition. It doesn’t really set the greatest tone for your side. But if that’s one way the Indian team wants to approach it, so be it. But it didn’t rattle him (Sam Konstas) one bit,” the Australian women’s team skipper Alyssa Healy expressed her disappointment regarding the incident and criticised the gesture from the Indian vice-captain, while also sharing words of appreciation for the youngster.
The Australian women’s team will also be involved in a much anticipated, high-octane Women’s Ashes, multi-format series down under. The series will commence on 12th January 2025 and conclude on 2nd February 2025. The series will include a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series followed by a one-off, Pink Ball Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from 30th January 2025.
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