Melbourne, Dec 28 (PTI) Sam Konstas’s competitive nature aligns with that of Virat Kohli and it would not be surprising if the two share a laugh about the shoulder-barging episode before posing for a photo after the Boxing Day Test, reckoned former Australia pacer Stuart Clark.
Kohli had intentionally bumped Konstas during the ongoing fourth Test at Melbourne, an act for which he copped a 20 percent fine from the ICC, besides getting booed by the Australian fans.
But Clark, who played 28 Tests for Australia, said these two ultra-competitive sportspersons will gel well with each other eventually.
“He’s (Konstas) a competitor. He wants to compete. He wants to do well. So, from that point of view, I think that incident (shoulder-barging) that happened in history, I think what you’ll find is, I wouldn’t be surprised if (Virat) Kohli takes him under his wing,” Clark told PTI.
“And there’ll be a photo of them after the game, smiling and laughing about it. He won’t take a backward step. No one expects Kohli to either. No one expects anyone to take a backward step. It was just not a great incident,” he added.
Having seen Konstas from his early teens in Sydney, Clark found his debut knock a bit “out of character”.
“He is an aggressive player and that innings was a bit out of character. I am more interested to see how he plays in the second innings whether he attacks or plays a traditional game.
“Or goes out and plays flamboyant cricket. (David) Warner is special in his own way and Sam will be special in his own way,” he said.
“He has loads of time at the crease and has got good bat speed. He has confidence and all good players have that.” The chat soon veered towards the careless run out involving Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal, which saw the latter getting out for 82.
“There are two sides to the story. Firstly, I don’t know if there was a run there and I don’t have a problem with Kohli running back in. It was a genuine mix-up and you can’t blame Kohli for that,” he said.
Clark, who won Man of the Series award in his debut in South Africa for getting 20 wickets, said it is unfair to crucify Rishabh Pant for playing that falling lap-pull shot, which eventually led to his doom against Scott Boland.
“I think you’ve got to be careful with Rishabh Pant because he plays those (shots) and we all sit here and sing how good a shot it actually was. So, the fact he got it wrong, I think, it’s more the timing of when he played the shot, which is the issue.
“We’ve seen him play it so many times and been so successful at it. We don’t want to crucify him for getting it wrong occasionally because he’s a world-class player but just the moment in the game, didn’t call for it and he got it wrong,” he gave a different perspective.
The 49-year-old was also confident that India can save the Melbourne Test as the pitch has nothing in it for the bowlers.
“The pitch is a lot better (for batting) than it used to be. Yes, the odd ball is keeping low but it is fairly flat and true. It would not be a surprise that a quality batting side like India India bat out a whole day in their second innings,” he added. PTI KHS UNG 7/21/2024
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