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Jasprit Bumrah has dominated batters in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The Indian vice-captain is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 25 dismissals to his name. However, on the Day 1 of the Melbourne Test, the pacer maestro was hit out of the park by young debutant Sam Konstas for an impeccable six. Now, Bumrah shared his thoughts on Konstas’ dream debut and his contest with the 19-year-old.
Jasprit Bumrah always felt close to getting Konstas’ wicket
Speaking to the 7Cricket ahead of the 3rd day of the Boxing Day Test, Bumrah re-called his clash with the young debutant on the opening day of the 4th Test and talked about the unique batting skills of the young debutant. Bumrah expressed that, having played T20s for 12 years, he always felt in the game against Konstas, often coming close to taking his wicket early on, and while results vary, he enjoys the challenge.
“I have experienced heaps of it. I have played T20s for the last 12 years of my life. Interesting batsman. I always felt that I was in the game, I never felt that I was far away from taking his wicket, maybe even 6-7 times in the first two overs. But you know, that’s how cricket goes. Some days it pays off, it looks good, and some days it does not. I love different challenges and I am always looking forward to it,” Bumrah said.
Australia’s first innings was star-studded with a solid opening display from Konstas and Usman Khwaja. The Australian openers gave their team a solid base of 89 runs. Konstas was the highlight of the first day of the Test match and scored 60 runs off 65 balls. Konstas played some unique shots in his innings and hit 2 towering sixes in his innings both against Bumrah. This was the first time in 3 years that Bumrah was hit for a six in Test cricket.
The Australian innings came to an end on the second day of the Test match. The home side were bowled out for 474 runs including a fierce 140-run knock from Steve Smith who added 112 runs with captain Pat Cummins for the seventh wicket. The partnership immensely contributed to Australia’s mammoth total.
Also WATCH: Mohammed Siraj’s bail-switching ritual brings good fortune for Jasprit Bumrah on Day 1 of the AUS vs IND 4th Test
A courageous 8th wicket partnership keeps the Indian hopes alive
The Indian team started their innings with a mountain to climb. Youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal and former Indian skipper Virat Kohli did try to offer some resistance to the Australian bowlers, but both batters gave their wickets away in quick succession as the 2nd day’s play neared an end. On Day 3 of the Test match, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were dismissed by Australian bowlers in the opening session. The entire responsibility of chasing a grand first innings came on the young shoulders of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar. The youngsters offered a heroic resistance to the Australian bowling line-up, keeping the flow of runs steady and took the side to 326/7 at Tea on Day 3.
