Australia’s newbie opener Sam Konstas made the most of his enthralling debut against India at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The rookie batter enjoyed his time in the middle, hitting a fifty on his first outing, smashing ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah for a six off a ramp shot and getting a shoulder bumping from cricket’s beloved Virat Kohli, all in the same innings. Reflecting on his talked-about international debut, Konstas regrets nothing.
Almost one month since emerging onto the Test scene as among the youngest present across both camps, Konstas admitted watching videos of it, reflecting how he felt about playing in front of a packed house at the ‘G’.
“I couldn’t believe (it),” Konstas said in a video chat shared by cricket.com.au on their social media handle.
“The first hour of the Boxing Day Test and (the way) I went about it. I watched it quite a few times – the videos and the crowd’s reaction.
“Obviously, I felt at times (that) the emotions did get to me, which was a great learning. Hopefully, if I do play with the bigger crowds, I can control that,” he said.
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Though he was tipped for bigger things in Australian cricket even before his Test debut, considering his pedigree for success, Konstas did justice to his reputation. Replacing Nathan McSweeney at the top, Konstas opened with Usman Khawaja and, in no time, took the attack to Bumrah – India’s best bowler on the tour.
Before he smoked him for 18 runs in one over (11th) – the most that Bumrah conceded in his Test career thus far, Konstas made headlines for hitting Bumrah for a six and four off two ramp shots, breaking the internet. His sweep to Bumrah for a boundary came in the same over, adding up to 14.
A few overs later, he smashed the ace quick for another six down the ground, hitting two off his bowling on his Test debut.
“Probably my ramp shots (to be fair),” Sam replied when asked what clips did he watch the most. “Watched that a few times; me trying to smack him (Jasprit Bumrah) in the first innings.”
Shoulder bumping Kohli
Even with all of that happening around, with the crowd and the visitors loving every moment of it, Kohli's shoulder bump to Konstas took the viewing to the next level. With both sharing some words, the umpires and Khawaja had to intervene to separate them.
Though Kohli faced a wrath for the same with the ICC punishing him, Konstas said such things happen in cricket, and a bit of theatre is good for the game.
“Nah, not really. I haven’t watched that as much, but I felt like it was in the contest. It’s good to have a bit of theatre in the game,” he added.
Watch -
"I've watched it quite a bit!"
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 24, 2025
Almost one month (!) on, Sam Konstas reflects on his WILD first hour of Test cricket #UnplayablePodcast | @Qantas | #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/Y3R6NPPr42
Meanwhile, the opener will fly to Sri Lanka for his first away series starting January 29 in Galle.
(With inputs from agencies)