Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah clarified what he had told Australian opener Sam Konstas during their famous confrontation during the Sydney Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.
Konstas made a superb start to his Test career in the fourth Test of the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as he scored 62 off 65 balls which included audacious ramp shots against Bumrah.
Bumrah got back at the 19-year-old when he rattled his stumps in the second innings for a score of 8 after troubling him with sharp seam movement.
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Konstas and Bumrah were involved in a verbal exchange in the final Test in Sydney during the first innings. Bumrah, usually a calm character on the field, appeared to be chiding the teenager but has clarified what he meant with his words.
“I don’t know what you guys are thinking but I mainly asked him, ‘Is everything okay?’ Is your mother fine, is everything at home fine?’” Bumrah said at a promotional event.
Konstas was also confronted by Virat Kohli in the Test which caused a stir but the duo had buried the hatchet. Kohli was also fined a part of his match fees for the run-in.
However, there was mystery about what Bumrah had said to Konstas during their duel in the first innings of the match.
“Usne bola ‘haan theek hai’ to maine bola ‘Acha theek hai ab ball daal deta hoon.’ Aap logo ne kuch aur interpret kar liya hoga. I think udhar words nahi the to maybe miscommunication ho gaya hoga. (He said ‘Yes, it’s fine?’ to which I said ‘Now, I will bowl’. You guys must have interpreted it something else. I think the lack of words may have caused some miscommunication). Incidents like these happen when the game is close,” Bumrah said.
Bumrah, who finished the Border Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets, also talked about how he came close to getting Konstas’ wicket in that match. Mohammed Siraj ended up getting Konstas’ scalp in the first innings while Prasidh Krishna got him out in the second innings.
“Interesting batsman (Konstas) as well and I always felt I was in the game, I never felt I am far away from a wicket. Initially I felt I could have got him out 6-7 times in the first two overs but that’s how cricket goes, some days it pays off, it looks good, some days if it doesn’t you might be criticising the same person,” Bumrah said in an interaction with Channel 7.
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