Indian team should be "punished" for their "disgraceful act" - Konstas' mentor

New South Wales coach Greg Shipperd, who has also mentored Sam Konstas, said the Indian team should have been punished for swarming towards the young opener during the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. Shipperd went on to term it as a “disgraceful act”.

Two balls before the close of play on day one, Konstas got into a heated argument with Jasprit Bumrah after the India skipper asked Usman Khawaja not to waste time. 

Bumrah eventually got Khawaja on the day's final ball, after which the entire Indian side ran towards Konstas and celebrated aggressively. Bumrah did not celebrate but ran towards the youngster and gave him a death stare. 

“I think it was a disgraceful act and should have been punished far more severely than it was,” Shipperd told SEN.

“He or the circumstance got under the skin of Jasprit, and the team response was super aggressive towards him. I think he’ll walk through that and look forward to his next opportunity in Sri Lanka.”

Konstas made his Test debut in Melbourne and rattled Bumrah and Co. with his audacious strokeplay. The young right-hander smashed 60 off 65 deliveries. In the next innings, Bumrah knocked him over with an inswinger. In the final Test, Konstas managed scores of 23 and 22, taking his series average to 28.25 across four innings.

“You could have straight-batted and forward-defended and tried your luck that way, but that may not have worked. Sam has taken the really aggressive route, which was to play some shots that we would go ‘that’s T20 cricket’, but that was his form of problem solving in the moment,” said Shipperd.

“It could be described as ‘chaotic’ by a lot of people, but I think over time that we and he and the rest of the people around him will add the craftsmanship to that particular approach.

“We’ve started a player off and he’s going to be around for a long time. I wouldn’t have used the word ‘arrogant’ to describe him in any way, shape or form.

“He’s just a brilliant young man who is loving the game, playing the game and responding to the challenges in the moment. How can you criticise people who play with a smile on their face? I don’t understand that.”

Konstas is now likely to be included in the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, which starts on January 29.