Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan hit out at Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for letting debutant Sam score an aggressive fifty in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 19-year-old survived some nervy moments before going hard against Bumrah, unsettling the best fast bowler in the world. The fast bowlers were guilty of not bowling the right line and length to the batter, which allowed him to settle down.
He hit six boundaries and two sides in his innings of 60 runs. Sam, who faced 65 balls, shared an 89-run partnership with Usman Khawaja, who also struck his first half-century of the five-match Test series Down Under.
“Sam Konstas is an LBW candidate but the Indian bowlers didn’t try to pitch the ball up and force him to drive the ball. They were either wide or two full in the first 5-6 overs. By the time they corrected their mistake, Sam Konstas was up and running and didn’t spare the bowlers. I was saying from the first ball of Sam’s innings that his front foot was not going anywhere but the bowlers missed a trick during that phase of the game,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.
The young batter was also part of a controversial moment when Kohli barged into him while changing ends after an over. The Indian star intentionally shouldered him, inviting criticism from ex-Indian and Australian players.
Sam replaced Nathan McSweeney for the last two Test of the series after the latter failed to impress in three contests.
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