Konstas’s big talk sore the Indians, with Virat Kohli putting him in his place in Melbourne, before Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and his teammates gave him some lip following a dramatic final over in Sydney where the young bloke had a bit of a stoush with the quick before he dismissed Usman Khawaja.
NSW coach Greg Shipperd gave a serve to the Indian team for over- reacting and said Konstas would do alright to keep up his Test strike rate of 81 on the Sri Lankan tour coming up.
“I’m not sure if it agrees with him. I reckon it rattled him,” Shipperd said when asked about the Bumrah altercation.
I reckon it was an absolute ripper of a bad move and should’ve copped a much harsher sentence than it did.
“Whatever it was, it really got up Jasprit’s nose, and the team’s reaction was bloody aggressive towards him.”
“I reckon he’ll have a crack at that one and be looking forward to his next crack in Sri Lanka.”
Fair dinkum, partner! Opening bloke Khawaja told the ABC that Konstas is the most arrogant, yet lovable person he’s ever met, with his NSW coach giving praise for Konstas’s ability to sort out the challenges in front of him with some pretty bold tactics.
“You could’ve hit it straight and defended forward and had a crack at it, but that mightn’t have paid off,” Shipperd said to SEN.
“Sam’s taken a pretty aggressive tack, playing shots that we’d say are more typical of T20 cricket – that was his way of problem solving on the spot.”
It could be seen as ‘chaotic’ by a lot of people, but I reckon over time we’ll sort out the details and finesse his approach.
“Fair dinkum, we’ve given the new player a start and he’s going to be with us for ages. I wouldn’t’ve called him arrogant in any shape or form, that’s not how I’d describe him at all.”
He’s just a ripper of a young bloke who is loving the footy, playing footy and responding to the challenges as they come.
“Fair dinkum, how can you bag people out when they’re good as gold and showing a smile on their face? I’m gobsmacked by that.”
Konstas and the Test squad’reviewmates Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson and Beau Webster will be given a go for the remainder of the BBL home-and-away season after the Test series wraps up in five matches, while Steve Smith will play three games for the Sixers beginning January 11 against the Perth outfit.
Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne will also be available for the Heat’s final home match on January 16.
But Cricket Australia gave the flick to Scott Boland, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, spinner Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc ahead of the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka due to concerns over their workloads.
“Battling in a five-match Test series is one tough gig, and there’s an extra level of intensity with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line,” Cricket Australia national teams boss Ben Oliver said.
“We have developed custom plans for each player to aid in their recovery from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and get them ready for future international engagements.”
Vettel turns up after clubbing a record-breaking 50 in his BBL debut, and it’s a massive boost for the Thunder who had to resort to called up 41-year-old Dan Christian after an unfortunate collision between Cameron Bancroft and Daniel Sams on the field.
The young batsman is tipped to play for the Thunder in their home game against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night, coming just days after he got Australia’s run chase underway at a cracking pace in the Sydney Test.
His attacking style’s drawn some criticism, but fair dinkum, it’s hard to bag someone willing to have a crack at Bumrah with so much confidence.
