Yashasvi Jaiswal fumes at Sam Konstas, says ‘Do your job’ after Aussie sledges; smacks next ball straight into debutant

There was plenty of fire on show during day five of the fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as a back-and-forth game reached a dramatic conclusion in the final session of day five as seven Indian wickets fell and left Australia with a 2-1 lead in the series.

India looked set to stretch the match out into a draw in the middle session of the day, as Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal looked rock-solid in their defence as they batted resolutely and patiently. Despite this, there was plenty of chatter on the pitch as Australia tried to play the mental game and dislodge the two batters from the zone they had entered.

This included Australia’s teenaged debutant Sam Konstas continuing the maverick energy he has shown throughout his maiden international match, as he constantly chattered with Jaiswal while standing as a close-in fielder for the spinners. Konstas was in constant discussion with his teammates and also trying to pry away Jaiswal’s confidence, ultimately getting on the southpaw’s nerves and earning a sharp retort.

Stump mics picked up Jaiswal saying to Konstas, “Do your job,” pointing at the young Australian as he continued to talk while the batter was taking his guard. Jaiswal also made his frustration known to the umpire, also talking to Pant as the more experienced wicketkeeper tried to keep him in the zone by calming his nerves in that moment.

Jaiswal gets his own back

Some balls later, Jaiswal released his frustration by trying to drive a ball outside off stump, and hitting Konstas at silly point in the process, adding to the physical contact the Australian opener has had to deal with in his debut match. There seemed to be no hard feelings between the young batters, however.

Jaiswal batted superbly once again to score 84 runs from 208 deliveries as he tried to keep India alive. Jaiswal scored 82 and 84 in this match for a strong performance in his first match at the MCG, but was ultimately undone in slightly controversial circumstances as he seemed to glove a bouncer down leg off the bowling of Pat Cummins, caught by Alex Carey.

Jaiswal’s effort ultimately proved to be in vain as Australia wrapped up the tail comfortably, not making the same mistakes as India the evening prior. The hosts won by 184 runs heading into the final match of the series, now a do-or-die match for India.