You can’t keep Jasprit Bumrah at bay. 19-year-old Sam Konstas, who showed no fear against the best bowler in the world in the first innings of the India vs Australia 4th Test, has been cleaned up by the menacing fast bowler in his second international outing.
Usually, Bumrah doesn’t celebrate much after taking wickets, but the 19-year-old had gone hard after him on the first day, and so the unorthodox pacer was pumped up after rattling Konstas’ stumps and urged the crowd to make some noise. This celebration was pulled out because Konstas had done the same after hitting Bumrah for runs on the first.
Young Sam Konstas, no match for Jasprit Bumrah
It has been pointed out by many that Konstas has trouble facing the ball coming in. This was highlighted in the India vs Prime Minister’s XI match as well. To tackle Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the batter had gone all out on aggression to ensure they didn’t target his weakness. But, in the second innings, Konstas chose to take the normal approach.
That didn’t work well, though. In the first innings, he had a strike rate of over 100; this was around it was under 50. He’d been lucky last time around with several balls missing the edge and then scored 34 runs against Bumrah in his first spell. This time around, he faced just 8 balls from the unorthodox pacer and scored just one run.
The master plan Bumrah is, he knew Konstas’ weakness. After pitching the ball outside off consistently and looking to take it away, Bumrah finally brought one back, and it breached Konstas’ defence. The 19-year-old may have won the ramp battle, but the war was won by the No. 1 bowler in the world.
Most wickets for an Indian pacer in a Test series in Australia
- 26* – Jasprit Bumrah, 2024/25
- 25 – Kapil Dev, 1991/92
- 21 – Jasprit Bumrah, 2018/19
- 19 – Manoj Prabhakar, 1991/92
