Australia head coach Andrew McDonald accused the Indian team of trying to 'intimidate' young batter Sam Konstas during their animated wicket celebrations on the first day of the ongoing fifth and final Test in Sydney.
India dominated proceedings on Day 2, bundling out Australia for just 181 runs before closing at 141/6, for an overall lead of 145 runs.
However, the spotlight remained on an incident involving the 19-year-old Konstas and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah during the closing stages of Day 1 on Friday.
The tension unfolded as Bumrah and Konstas exchanged words before the final ball of the day was bowled.
Bumrah -- the calmest of players -- was visibly annoyed with Usman Khawaja, who was deliberately taking time to take strike in order to ensure that another over wouldn't be bowled before stumps.
Bumrah made his frustrations clear, prompting a response from 19-year-old Konstas at the non-striker's end. The verbal dual escalated, forcing Umpire Sharfuddoula to step in and keep the legend and the insolent tyke away from each other.
A fired-up Bumrah then struck off the final delivery of the day as he had Khawaja caught in the slips by Virat Kohli and followed it up with a big stare in the direction of Konstas, who meekly walked back to the Aussie
Addressing the incident, McDonald, expressed concern over the impact on Konstas, who is playing in just his second Test match.
"My conversation with him (Konstas) was around whether he is okay. Clearly, the way India celebrated that was quite intimidating. It is clearly within the laws of the game, the rules and regulations. There have been no charges laid, but to have an opposition swarm the non-striker like that, we have got a duty of care to our player to make sure he is okay and in a headspace to go out there and perform," McDonald said on Saturday.
When asked if India had crossed a line, McDonald added, "There have been no charges laid, so it seems this behavior is deemed acceptable. I will leave it to the ICC, match referee Andy Pycroft, and the umpires to decide if that’s the benchmark we are playing towards."
Konstas' involvement in the heated exchange also drew criticism from former cricketers. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, speaking on Channel 7 before Day 2, said, "I didn’t like Konstas getting involved. That wasn't his battle. It was between Khawaja and Bumrah. Hopefully, the dressing room addressed it last night because he should have stayed out of it. The game has a way of coming back at you, and it did with Khawaja’s dismissal."
Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody echoed similar sentiments. 'Sam Konstas has much to learn. I hope the dressing room is guiding him without suppressing his confidence and youthful enthusiasm. #AUSvINDIA,' he said on X.
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