• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Warner Backs Chirpy Sam Konstas Amid Feud With Kohli Bumrah Nature Of The Beast

Warner Backs Chirpy Sam Konstas Amid Feud With Kohli, Bumrah: 'Nature Of The Beast'

Muskaan Bhatt∙ Updated: Dec 31 2024, 1:00 PM

Virat Kohli and 19-year-old Sam Konstas in a fued (Source: AP Photos)Virat Kohli and 19-year-old Sam Konstas in a fued (Source: AP Photos)

Lavishing praise on young Sam Konstas, former opener David Warner has urged Australia's senior players to adopt a similar aggressive approach when facing Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been a dominant force with the ball in the ongoing series.

The 19-year-old Sam Konstas played some stunning scoops and laps off Bumrah en route to a 65-ball 60 on his Test debut during the fourth Test at Melbourne, which the Aussies won by 184 runs on Monday.

"It was very special. People are going to criticise him as well. That’s the nature of the beast, that’s the way he is going to play. When someone like Bumrah is bowling to you, you have to try and execute somehow. They put a third-man in and fine leg to him and bowled him through the gate (in the second innings)," Warner told AAP.

"He will look back on that and go ‘what a great experience in the Boxing Day Test’. He now gets to come here for New Year’s Test,” he added.

Konstas Makes An Impressive Debut For Aussies

Konstas had scored 107 off 97 balls against India for the Prime Minister’s XI. He had also scored an unbeaten 73 at the MCG against India A, besides making two centuries in the Sheffield Shield and a record-breaking 50 on debut for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.

"What he did in the Prime Minister’s XI shows he has that talent. But it also shows he is brave. Him being brave at the top of the order, you’ve got guys who have played 50 Tests, they could have been brave as well, they could have played different shots, they could have moved out of their crease and batted different."

Not just with the bat, Konstas also made the headlines with his on-field sledge wars. The gutsy youngster was involved in a heated exchange with Virat Kohli during the first innings and later on was also caught on cam imitating the shoulder-bump incident with the Aussie fans. He did not stop there as he also sledged Yashasvi Jaiswal later on in the game. In fact, his antics on field have earned him the title of a true successor of David Warner.

[With PTI Inputs]