India coach Gautam Gambhir labels Australia ‘soft’ over reaction to Sam Konstas blow-up

Indian coach Gautam Gambhir has fired back at Australia – and coach Andrew McDonald – to reignite the war of words sparked by Sam Konstas’ battle with Jasprit Bumrah on day one.

India has branded Australia “soft” for complaining about their treatment of combative teenager Sam Konstas.

Tensions between the two teams have exploded in the last Test, with Indian super villain Virat Kohli taunting the Australian crowd with sandpaper gestures after Steve Smith’s wicket, before Indian coach Gautam Gambhir took aim at Konstas and the Australians in the post-match press conference.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald had condemned Indian players for “intimidating” 19-year-old Konstas on night one of the SCG Test after Jasprit Bumrah had dismissed Usman Khawaja, and expressed his surprise that there was no action taken by match officials to protect Konstas from the wild in-your-face celebrations.

India’s stars converge on youngster Sam Konstas after the first-innings dismissal of Usman Khawaja. Picture: AFP

Gambhir hit back with a brutal counter-punch of his own on Sunday, declaring Konstas was out of line for instigating the incident by engaging in a war-of-words with Bumrah.

“Look, it’s a tough sport played by tough men. You can’t be that soft,” Gambhir said of McDonald and Australia.

“That’s as simple as it can get.

“I don’t think there was anything intimidating about it.

“He (Konstas) had no right to be talking to Jasprit Bumrah when Usman Khawaja was taking time.

“He had no right and no business to be involved with Jasprit Bumrah. That was a job for the umpire and for the guy who is batting at the end.”

Jasprit Bumrah and Sam Konstas had a running battle through the final two Tests of the series. Picture: Getty

India accused Khawaja of time wasting to try and ensure Bumrah’s final over would also be the final over of the day before stumps was caused.

Konstas took exception to Bumrah’s gesturing towards Khawaja and decided to give his five cents to the champion bowler from the non-striker’s end.

Bumrah blew up at Konstas and started walking towards him before the umpire intervened.

Two balls later, on the final ball of the day, Bumrah got Khawaja’s wicket and immediately turned to stare down Konstas at the non-striker’s end as the rest of the Indian players went ballistic around him.

Australian captain Pat Cummins joined McDonald in defending Konstas and strongly denying his young charge had overstepped any boundaries.

“I’ve been really impressed with how he’s gone about it. I think people mistake a bit of confidence for bullying or abuse,” Cummins said.

Sam Konstas, Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott and Mitchell Starc pose for a photo after reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Picture: Getty

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 put him pack in his place.

“We say the same to all our players, just bring yourself every day, be yourself, go about it how you think represents yourself the best and how you want to play. I think he’s been really good this series. He’s stood up for himself when he needed to.”

Opening partner Usman Khawaja described Konstas – half his age – by explaining: “I’ve never met anyone so arrogant but so endearing at the same time,” Khawaja said on the ABC.

Gambhir also defended Kohli’s aggressive shoulder charge of Konstas at the MCG, which did prompt a fine from ICC match officials – intimating Australia just needed to look in the mirror and get on with it.

“I think whatever has happened is history. Whatever happened, happened. It is a tough sport played by tough men and these things happen,” Gambhir said.

“I don’t think we need to make a big issue out of it. It is not just incidents that have happened in this series.

“It has happened in the past as well. A lot of Australian players in the past have done it as well. We keep making a big deal out of these things.”

Sam Konstas went aggressively after the bowlers on Sunday. Picture: Getty

Konstas was out attempting to slog for 22 off 17 balls in the fourth over of Australia’s run chase and Gambhir said the kid would learn from his experience in this pressure-cooker series.

“I’m sure (he has a future in Test cricket), that’s why he is playing Test cricket,” Gambhir said.

“Test cricket is about improving every day. And sometimes you can’t just go out there and smashing from ball one. You have to respect red-ball cricket as well, and hopefully he is going to learn from his experiences.

“When you’re playing against a high-quality attack like India, this will be a great learning for him going forward.”

Originally published as India coach Gautam Gambhir labels Australia ‘soft’ over reaction to Sam Konstas blow-up