Sam Konstas taunts Virat Kohli with shrug during Boxing Day Test

Australia’s latest debutant Sam Konstas has proved 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 fifty was eventful for him as he was involved in a shoulder clash with senior Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. The incident occurred after some heated exchanges between the two.

Recently, Konstas was seen imitating Kohli’s shoulder boat during the second day of the Melbourne Test. He got the attention of the crowd when he started to move his shoulder. The local crowd stood up after seeing Konstas and supported him for these actions.

Read also: ‘This is crazy’: Rishabh Pant ripped by ex-Australia star for ‘reckless bat’ at MCG

Watch: Sam Konstas mocks Virat Kohli

The Australian crowd and public have been very hostile towards Virat Kohli after his shoulder collision with Sam Konstas. The Australian media even used words like ‘bully’ and ‘clown’ for the former India captain.

The incident between Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas

Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas were involved in a collision on the shoulder during the first day of the Boxing Day Test. After the tenth over of Australia’s innings, Kohli appeared to change direction suddenly and hit Konstas on the shoulders.

Kohli turned away as the two players shared a few verbal volleys with each other. Neither backed down as Usman Khawaja, Konstas’ opening partner, had to step in and separate them.

After the end of the day, the ICC found Virat Kohli guilty of the offense and fined him 20 percent of his match fees. Kohli accepted the offense and as a result no further hearing was necessary.

However, Konstas did not seem uncomfortable with the occasion and continued to attack the Indian bowlers. He played some bold shots against India’s top fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and put him under pressure with firsts and reverse balls. The youngster scored a fiery 60 off 65 balls in his first Test innings.

Sam Konstas gave Australia a great start

Meanwhile, Australia got off to a quick start thanks to Sam Konstas’ excellent knock at the top. Usman Khawaja gave him good company with a half-century of his own. Marnus Labuschagne failed to turn another outing into a big one and was dismissed for a well-made 72.

But starting the show was Steve Smith who smashed 140 off 197 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. Smith departed beautifully 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 superb and took Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul cheaply. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli set the innings on track with a fine partnership of 102 runs. However, Jaiswal’s wicket opened the door 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 in good form as they pushed India past the follow-on mark.