During the Boxing Day Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series, young Australian opening batsman Sam Konstas set a major milestone. Sam Konstas became the first batsman in the world to strike a six against Team India’s fast bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in a Test since 2021.
Australia changed their playing XI following Bumrah’s performance with the new ball in the previous three Tests. The selecting committee, chaired by George Bailey, chose Konstas over Nathan McSweeney. He had impressed with a century in India’s warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI.
Australia’s strategy was to nullify Jasprit Bumrah’s danger early in the innings, which Sam Konstas performed flawlessly. The right-handed batsman took an extremely aggressive approach against Bumrah. Konstas’ strategy paid off, as he hit 34 runs off Bumrah’s first stint, the highest by a batsman in red-ball cricket to date.
Konstas made history as the first batter to knock a six off Jasprit Bumrah in Test cricket since 2021. He accomplished this feat on the second delivery of the seventh over of Australia’s first innings.
Cameron Green was the last player to hit sixes off Bumrah. Bumrah had bowled 4,484 balls without allowing a six in the previous four years, but his run was interrupted during the Boxing Day Test.
Konstas scored his first Test half-century in just 52 balls. He became the second-youngest Australian to register a Test fifty, aged 19 years and 85 days.
Ian Craig was the youngest to do so, scoring a fifty at 17 years and 239 days in 1953, while Neil Harvey, at 19 years and 121 days, is third.
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Konstas made 60 runs off 65 balls, including six fours and two sixes, before being removed by Ravindra Jadeja. Harsha Bhogle applauded Konstas for his bravery, stating that the selectors probably didn’t expect such a reaction.
Irfan Pathan praised Konstas’ courage and audacious attitude to confronting Bumrah. Ian Bishop hailed Konstas’ half-century as one of the most intriguing debuts he had ever witnessed, praising the young batter for not backing down from anyone.
“This, too, is Test cricket! #SamKonstas. Harsha Bhogle tweeted, “When the selectors said they wanted to throw a different challenge at India’s bowlers, they couldn’t have imagined it would turn out like this.”
“What I’m witnessing from Sam Konstas is fearlessness and perhaps ignorance. But it was what Australia wanted. Irfan Pathan wrote, “I wanted someone to face Jasprit Bumrah in a different way.”
“That is one of the most fascinating test debut half century I’ve ever seen from Sam Konstas. Ian Bishop wrote: “He doesn’t back down from anyone, senior or junior.”