Sam Konstas told Virat Kohli 'I know you're a good player, but have some...' during the shoulder-charge incident at MCG
10 months after the infamous Virat Kohli-Sam Konstas shoulder barge incident at the MCG, the cat is finally out of the bag.
In what turned out to be Virat Kohli’s last Test series for India, the former captain was in the news for not the best of reasons. Barring a century at Perth in the first Test, Kohli's form had deserted him, and the fact that Australia had levelled the series 1-1 with a win at Adelaide, Kohli was in the hot seat for the all-important Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground after the third Test at Gabba ended in a draw. However, the Indian team, including Kohli, was taken aback, clearly unprepared for the storm that was about to him them. The then 19-year-old Sam Konstas made his debut and rocked India's bowlers with an insane innings. Konstas reverse, paddle-swept his way to a smashing Test fifty on debut, rattling the Indian bowlers. The always-in-action Kohli tried to play mind games with Konstas, shoulder barging him, which ruffled up a few feathers.
Words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the two had to be pulled apart by the umpire and Usman Khawaja. The incident stayed shrouded in mystery until today. Oliver Peake, Konstas' close friend and the man on drinks duty that day, finally revealed what the 20-year-old had said to Kohli in retaliation.
"I remember running him gloves, and him and Uzie out there was pretty cool. Uzie was a bit taken aback by the way he was going about it. He just looked so in the zone and so confident that he was looking fine out there. It was great to watch as a fan and also as a mate," Peake said on The Grade Cricketer Podcast.
"When Kohli shoulder-charged him, Sam said, 'I know you're a good player, but have some respect'".
Konstas vs Kohli/Bumrah
Kohli wasn't the only Indian player Konstas had a run-in with. In the following Test at the SCG, Konstas and Jasprit Bumrah were at it during the last ball of the final over on the first day. With Usman Khawaja taking strike, Konstas chirped away at Bumrah, who was about to run in to bowl. The move ticked off the Indian pacer, who responded by cleaning up Khawaja on the next ball and giving it back to Konstas.
Despite starting his Test career with an entertaining 60, Konstas has since struggled. His scores have since read 23, 22 (against India), 3, 5, 27, 17 and two ducks versus the West Indies.
