Australia captain Pat Cummins has come to the defence of Sam Konstas following recent scrutiny of his on-field conduct during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. In the post-match press conference, Cummins discussed the role of the ICC and match officials in setting the rules and the standard for conduct, making it clear that the team respected those decisions, even if they did not always agree with them. “I think, first of all, obviously ICC and Andy Pycroft set the rules and set the punishments. You know, we saw that in Melbourne with Virat [Kohli], 20 per cent. That’s what they thought. So, it doesn’t really matter what we think. They set the rules. So, obviously, that’s the standard that they’re happy with,” Cummins said.
Turning to the case of Konstas, Cummins expressed his admiration for the young player’s approach.
“I think, in regards to Sam, you know, I think he’s, I’ve been really impressed with how he’s gone about it. I think people mistake a bit of confidence with bullying or abuse. You know, he’s, you’re allowed to walk around with your shoulders puffed back and play a few cricket shots. I don’t think that’s illegal, but some people really take offence to that and want to kind of put him back in his place,” he added.
Cummins emphasized that the team encourages its players to be true to themselves on the field.
“For us it’s always just, and we say the same to all our players, is just bring yourself every day. You know, be yourself. Go about it how you think represents yourself the best and how you want to play,” Cummins said.
“Yeah, I think he’s been really good this series. He’s stood up for himself when he’s needed to,” he added.
Konstas has earned praise for his resilience and maturity, standing his ground amidst challenges while adhering to the team’s ethos of authenticity.
Coming to the SCG Test, India won the toss and elected to bat first. India was off to a disappointing start yet again as the top order threw away their wickets, especially Virat Kohli (17) who continued his struggles with outside off-stump deliveries.
However, the fight by Pant (40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six), Ravindra Jadeja (26 in 95 balls, with three fours) and skipper Jasprit Bumrah (22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six) pushed India to 185/10 in 72.2 overs.
Boland (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies and once again a thorn in the eyes of Indian batters. Mitchell Starc took 3/49 while Pat Cummins got 2/37.
In their first innings, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals even when Jasprit Bumrah (2/33) walked off the field due to an injury scare. Under the stand-in skipper Virat, India continued to dominate the Aussies, skittling them out for just 181 runs and taking a four-run lead. Debutant Beau Webster (57 in 105 balls, with five fours) had a fine showing with the bat and Steve Smith (33 in 57 balls, with four boundaries and a six) showed some attacking intent.
Prasidh Krishna (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/51) were the top bowlers for India.
With a lead of four runs, India was off to a promising start thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 in 35 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (13) as they put on a 45-run stand. But Boland (6/45) troubled the Indian batting once again. Pant did put up a counter-attack with 61 in 33 balls (six fours and four sixes), but India was bundled out for 157 runs, setting up 162 for the Aussies to win. Bumrah could not bowl in the final innings.
Australia was in trouble for a while during chase of 162 runs at 58/3, but knocks from Usman Khawaja (41 in 45 balls, with four boundaries), Travis Head (34* in 38 balls, with four boundaries) and Webster (39* in 34 balls, with six fours) guided the team to a six-wicket win, despite fight put up by Prasidh Krishna (3/65).
Boland was the ‘Player of the Match’ for his 10-wicket haul while Bumrah walked away with the ‘Player of the Series’ award with 32 wickets.
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