The former captain of the Australian side, Steve Smith, has revealed that he had a heart attack on the opening day of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. It happened on the morning session of the opening day, but his comments came lightly.
Steve Smith lauded the 19-year-old debutant opening batter of the Australian side, Sam Konstas, who drew significant attention for his fearless approach and incredible attitude in his very first game. The leading run-getter of the current Australian side in the longest format has lauded the young batter from New South Wales.
Konstas grabbed the center stage of the fixture when he looked to ramp the premier Indian pacer, Jasprit Bumrah. He failed on the first couple of attempts but kept on going with the same flow and eventually got the wood on the ball as it sailed over the wicketkeeper’s head for a four.
Steve Smith stunned to see Sam Konstas’ batting in Melbourne on debut
The kid nailed the Ahmedabad-born over the bowler’s head for a six to celebrate a 65-ball 60-run knock in the opening stand of 89, with the help of six boundaries and a couple of sixes at a strike rate of over 90. All of these actions surprised the veteran Steve Smith, who has hardly found it easy to face the 31-year-old.
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It was the reverse scoop over Rishabh Pant for a sis that stunned the Sydney-born, who found himself at the edge of the batter in the dressing room. The veteran contributed a masterclass knock of 140 runs to help the home side in getting to 474 in the first innings but didn’t shy away from crediting Sam, for setting the tone early in the innings.
“I don’t think much fazes the young kid, as so we saw yesterday. He was reverse-ramping Bumrah for a six, and I was having a heart attack up in the box. But look, I thought it was all good. No stress.” Steve Smith expressed in the press conference at the end of the second day’s play at the MCG.
The maturity of the youngster was immense. He navigated a fiery moment when he was banged into the shoulder by his future idol, Virat Kohli, who has changed 20% of his match fees and a demerit point for the altercation. But nothing stopped him from getting the shots all around the park.
Australia bowled well on the second day, but the run-out dismissal just half an hour before the end of the day’s play between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli brought the home side back into the fixture.
“Looks like Jaiswal called yes, ran, and Virat sent him back. Simple as that. Yeah, I didn’t see much more than that. It was a really good partnership to break that one. And then obviously get the two more wickets. It was a huge last hour for us. So, yeah, that was a big play in the context of the day, I suppose.” Steve Smith highlighted in the presser.
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He also praised Kohli for the latter’s discipline in leaving the balls outside the off stump before the former Indian captain departed for 36 runs in 86 balls.
“He (Virat Kohli) was disciplined today, he was leaving nicely, making the bowlers come to him a bit more and scoring well through the leg side and when we went short. So, yeah, I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass there.” Steve Smith concluded.