"That was not his battle to fight" - Former Aussie captain criticizes Sam Konstas after heated exchange with Jasprit Bumrah in BGT 2024-25 5th Test

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has slammed Sam Konstas for getting himself involved in the verbal exchange between Jasprit Bumrah and Usman Khawaja. The two senior cricketers exchanged words over time wasting in the final over of the day's play at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

The entire Indian contingent was fuming over Konstas and Khawaja's time-wasting tactics to ensure that Bumrah's over was the last for the day. The stand-in Indian skipper seemed annoyed when Khawaja stopped him midway through his bowling run-up.

Tension flared when Konstas said a few words at the ace Indian pacer before the duo walked towards each other. The umpires had to intervene and separate them. However, Bumrah had the last laugh, as Khawaja nicked one straight to KL Rahul to close out Day 1.

Throwing light on the verbal duels, Ponting claimed he is never a fan of time-wasting tactics. He told 7Cricket via Yahoo News:

"I never like playing around with a game of cricket like that," the former Test captain said. "It has a way of coming back and biting you time after time. They tried their best to take time out of the game. And this is what has happened as a result."

Ponting added that there was no need for Sam Konstas to get involved in the matter and he hoped there was discussion about the same in the Aussie dressing room.

"One guy you don't want to upset is Jasprit Bumrah," he added. "The way he's bowled and the fact he has got Khawaja out five times in the series. I didn't like Konstas getting involved. That was not his battle to fight. It was between Khawaja and Bumrah. For the young man there, I hope that there was some talking to from the Australian dressing room last night because he should have stayed out of that, let his senior player handle the last couple of balls."

Konstas, playing only his second Test, had some brief moments of joy before Mohammed Siraj dismissed him in the morning session of Day 2. Jasprit Bumrah drew early blood on the second day by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne before Siraj's twin strikes put India in the driver's seat.

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"Sam Konstas has much to learn" - Tom Moody

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody also called out Sam Konstas for his action during the end of the opening day's play in Sydney. He reckons that the youngster has a lot to learn and urged the support staff and senior cricketers to have a chat with Konstas.

Taking to X, Moody wrote:

"Sam Konstas has much to learn. I hope the dressing room is offering that guidance without suppressing his confidence and youthful enthusiasm."

"Usman had it all under control, what he didn’t need was the distraction of having to settle his partner down at the non strikers end!" he added.

At the time of writing, Australia are 96-5, trailing India by 89 runs.