Virat Kohli, talks to Australia’s Sam Konstas (L) and Usman Khawaja (R) looks on during play on the first day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on Thursday (December 26, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

Australia’s rivalry with India turned physical as Virat Kohli collided with 19-year-old Australia batter Sam Konstas on Thursday (December 26, 2024) on the opening morning of the fourth test.

After choosing to bat first in hot conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia was comfortably placed at 112-1 at lunch. Konstas dominated an opening stand of 89 before he was out lbw to spinner Ravindra Jadeja for a daring 60 off 65 deliveries in a memorable debut.

The on-field action heated up at the end of the 10th over. Kohli collided shoulder to shoulder as he walked past Konstas, whose risky stroke play was attracting much banter from the fielding side.

Konstas and former India captain Kohli exchanged words after the collision and Kohli started walking back towards Konstas. Australia batter Usman Khawaja hurried to stand between the pair, patting Konstas on the arm then putting a friendly arm around the shoulder of 36-year-old Kohli in a bid to calm the situation.

“Virat’s walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that,” former Australia captain Ricky Ponting told Australia’s Channel Seven.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan added on Fox Cricket that Kohli would face scrutiny from the match referee. “It’s Kohli that goes off line and he walks into Sam,” Vaughan said.

Earlier, Konstas looked nervous as he played and missed four times in the opening over of the match, bowled by Jasprit Bumrah.

But in a sign of the bravery of youth, Konstas played three audacious reverse scoops over slips in Bumrah’s fourth over, hitting two fours and a six.

At lunch, Khawaja was unbeaten on 38 and Marnus Labuschagne was on 12.

Australia captain Pat Cummins had chosen to bat first on a green-tinged pitch in hot conditions.

The five-match series is level at 1-1 after a rainy draw at Brisbane.

Australia made two changes to the side which dominated the drawn test in Brisbane. Seamer Scott Boland was recalled for Josh Hazlewood, who suffered a calf-muscle strain in Brisbane. Konstas replaced struggling opener Nathan McSweeney.

India named a bowler-heavy lineup, bringing in offspinner Washington Sundar so the visitors have six bowling options. Top-order batter Shubman Gill has been dropped and captain Rohit Sharma has been named at No. 3 in India’s batting order.

The series has added significance as Australia and India are ranked second and third, respectively, behind South Africa in the race to qualify for the World Test Championship Final to be held at Lord’s in June 2025. South Africa is hosting Pakistan in a two-test series that also starts Thursday (December 26, 2024).

The fifth and final Australia-India test is scheduled to start on January 3, 2025 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Usman Khawaja of Australia plays a shot during day one of the Men’s Fourth Test Match in the series between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss Thursday (December 26, 2024) and decided to bat first against India in expected hot conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the fourth test of the five-match series.

The series is level at 1-1 after a rainy draw at Brisbane,

A crowd of over 90,000 was expected to attend the first day of play, despite a predicted top temperature of 39 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit).

Australia made two changes to the side which dominated the drawn test in Brisbane. Seamer Scott Boland has been recalled for Josh Hazlewood, who suffered a calf-muscle strain in Brisbane.

Teenager Sam Konstas replaced struggling opener Nathan McSweeney, who averaged 14.40 in three tests in his debut series. Konstas, 19, is the fourth-youngest Australian male debutant.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said Konstas would provide an attacking weapon against the brilliant pace bowling of India’s Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken 21 wickets in the series.

Cummins, who was player of the match on his test debut for Australia aged 18, added: “There’s a level of naivety, that you just want to go out and play, like you did when you were a kid in the backyard.”

Australia’s Travis Head, the leading scorer in the series with 409 runs including two centuries, passed a fitness test Wednesday after suffering a quadricep-muscle strain in Brisbane.

India went with a bowler-heavy lineup, bringing in offspinner Washington Sundar so the visitors have six bowling options. Shubman Gill it out and captain Rohit Sharma has been named at No. 3 in India’s batting order after talk he would return to his customary position opening the batting.

India can take some confidence from its triumphs on its two previous two test tours of Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-2021, including claiming victory in Melbourne on both occasions.

However, apart from K.L. Rahul (235 runs at 47.00) and Bumrah (21 wickets at 10.90), India has been unable to build momentum in this series. A 295-run win in Perth was followed by a 10-wicket loss in Adelaide and the rain-soaked draw in Brisbane.

The series has added significance as Australia and India are ranked second and third, respectively, behind South Africa in the race to qualify for the World Test Championship Final to be held at Lord’s in June 2025. South Africa is hosting Pakistan in a two-test series that also starts Thursday.

The fifth and final Australia-India test is scheduled to start on Jan. 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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Lineups:

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India:: Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. Rahul, Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep