Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg is not pleased with coach Andrew McDonald’s comment about the Indian team “intimidating” youngster Sam Konstas on Day 1 of the Sydney Test. The teenager was involved in an altercation with India stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah at the non-striker’s end. However, Bumrah had the last laugh as he dismissed Usman Khawaja and celebrated in style by charging towards Konstas.
The entire Indian lineup then came running towards Konstas. Days later, Australia coach Andrew McDonald accused the Indian team of intimidating a youngster.
However, India coach Gautam Gambhir denied this charge, saying that the sport is played by tough men and there is no room for being “soft.”
Brad Hogg believes that Andrew McDonald’s comment went “too far” and that such a statement was unnecessary.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg said, “The coach is coming out and saying that the Indian players were intimidating Konstas, and there is a mental health issue there. I think that is taking it a little bit too far.”
“If you want to say a few words to the opposition team, you want to hit balls for four, walk down and give the bowler a serve while he is walking back to the mark, you are going to have to sit there and cop it on the way back as well,” he added.
‘Talk to your own players’
Brad Hogg also believes that McDonald should rather talk to his own players than about what the other team is doing.
This was not the first time that Konstas was involved in a heated exchange with an Indian player. During the Melbourne Test, Konstas was involved in a shoulder-barging incident with Virat Kohli, which led to the latter being fined 20 per cent of his match fees.
“The coach should not be talking about the Indian intimidation. The coach should be talking to his player about how he is going to handle the retaliation from the opposition team rather than defending him because if you want to give it out, you’ve got to take it back as well,” said Hogg.
Australia won the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy after registering a victory by six wickets in the Sydney Test. Konstas disappointed in both the innings, and now the real Test awaits him — two-match series against Sri Lanka.
