"He was reverse ramping Bumrah and I was having a heart attack" - Aussie batter reacts to Sam Konstas' stunning debut in 4th BGT 2024-25 Test

Seasoned Australian batter Steve Smith hailed Sam Konstas for his fantastic debut knock on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, December 26. While sharing his thoughts on the 19-year-old's stunning innings, the former Australian captain joked that he was having a heart attack in the viewing box while Konstas was ramping Jasprit Bumrah.

Konstas and Smith starred with the bat in Australia's first innings total of 474 in the MCG Test against India. Konstas slammed 60 off 65 balls, with the aid of six fours and two sixes. Smith, who was unbeaten on 68 on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test, went on to notch up his 34th Test ton before being dismissed for 140.

Speaking to the media after Day 2 of the MCG Test, the Aussie batting great revisited his emotions while watching Konstas flay India's lead pacer Bumrah. He quipped (as quoted by cricket.com.au):

"I don't think much fazes the young kid. As we saw yesterday, he was reverse ramping Bumrah and I was having a heart attack up in the (viewing) box."

Konstas missed a few ramps off Bumrah early in his innings. However, once he found his groove, the youngster was near-unstoppable and stunned India with some audacious strokes. Sharing further thoughts on the knock, Smith quipped:

"If that's the future, maybe it's time for me to finish."

On a serious note, though, he praised the 19-year-old for showing the courage and confidence to pull off what he did against one of the top bowlers in world cricket. The 35-year-old opined:

"You've got to have some serious courage to do what he did yesterday. That first over, Bumrah beat him three or four times and bowled some really nice balls. I actually thought he (Konstas) played them really well; he played down the line and they just did too much and they beat the outside edge.

"And then for a kid to have the confidence to start lapping and reverse lapping arguably one of the best bowlers that has played the game, shows some serious confidence and real courage," Smith went on to add.

The young opening batter was looking good for a lot more when he was trapped by Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja for 60.

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Sam Konstas had earlier scored a ton in the practice match against India

Before making his Test debut against India, Konstas had slammed an excellent hundred for Prime Minister's XI against the visitors in a practice game at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The right-handed batter was named Player of the Match for his 107 off 97 balls, a knock which featured 14 fours and a six.

Ahead of his Test debut, he had only featured in 11 first-class games, scoring 718 runs at an average of 42.23, with two hundreds and three fifties, with a best of 152.