'It always comes back to bite you': Hussey merciless after Jasprit Bumrah cleans up Sam Konstas at MCG

Australian debutant Sam Konstas instantly became a fan-favourite at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as his success with bat in the first innings combined with antics while fielding endeared him to a raucous and capacity Boxing Day Test crowd. During a lightning 60(65) in the first innings that saw him entertain with scoops, reverse-scoops, and other forms of audacious and entertaining batting, Konstas was caught in the controversy after Virat Kohli seemed to barge into him during the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Jasprit Bumrah gave Sam Konstas a send-off after bowling him in the second innings of the MCG Test.(AFP)

In response, Konstas was responsible for trying to rile up the packed MCG crowd, interacting with them throughout India’s batting innings. This included mimicking Kohli’s shoulder barge, and once the Indian batter was dismissed by another crowd-favourite in Scott Boland, by giving him a send-off by turning to the crowd and relishing the wicket. Konstas, however, got a taste of his own medicine soon after.

Returning to bat in the second innings, Konstas couldn’t recreate his earlier success, as he found his stumps rattled early in his innings, falling to an on-fire Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah gave Konstas a send-off by imitating the teenager’s own celebration following Kohli’s wicket, after a beautiful delivery which seamed in from length and bowled Konstas through the gate.

‘It makes the battle all the more spicy…’

On commentary duties for Fox Sports, former Australian batter Michael Hussey commented on how Konstas would need to be prepared for this kind of response if he took it on himself to dish it out. "It always comes back to bite you at some stage. I wonder if Sam Konstas is back in the dressing rooms thinking, 'I wish I charged him',” said Hussey jokingly. “It just makes the battle between the two nations all the more spicy.”

While Bumrah is regularly a calm and non-confrontational figure, he was clearly fired-up after dismissing Konstas, who had disturbed him in the first innings by playing unconventional shots such as the scoop. Having seen Konstas’ antics with the crowd while fielding, Mark Waugh argued that even Bumrah wanted a piece of the young Aussie batter.

"You don't see a lot of theatrics from Bumrah, but when Sam Konstas was dismissed, he thought, 'Yep, I'm here as well'," explained the former Australian player on Fox Sports.

Bumrah’s phenomenal series continued as he added to the wicket of Konstas with the dismissals of Travis Head for the second time in the Test, as well as Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey soon after to turn the tide of the match and make a result for India a big possibility.

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