'Should have faced harsher punishment': Kohli, Bumrah face criticism for 'disgraceful act' towards Konstas'

During the recently-completed Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, India's Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were criticized for their behavior towards Australia's Sam Konstas. Their actions were described as a "disgraceful act" by some. This incident came shortly after India's head coach Gautam Gambhir made strong remarks about the 19-year-old's clashes with Bumrah.

Konstas made his debut in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, where he toyed with Bumrah, smashing the India vice-captain for a flurry of boundaries, including the audacious ramp shots. He then egged the MCG crowd, who went berserk at the youngster's bravado.

Shortly after, Konstas was shouldered by Kohli, for which the former India captain was punished by the ICC. The Aussie batter then engaged in a heated altercation with Bumrah, both in Melbourne, in the second innings, and in Sydney, in the first innings.

NSW coach Greg Shipperd lambasted the two senior India cricketers for their over-reaction as he backed Konstas to emulate his show in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

“I don’t know if he thrives on it. I think it surprised him,” Shipperd said when asked about the Bumrah altercation as quoted by News.com.au. “I think it was a disgraceful act and should have been punished far more severely than it was.

“He or the circumstance got under the skin of Jasprit, and the team response was super aggressive towards him. I think he’ll walk through that and look forward to his next opportunity in Sri Lanka.”

Gambhir's swipe at Australia, Konstas

During a media interaction in Sydney, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald criticised India for "intimidating" Konstas, but his India counterpart, Gambhir, fired a shot back, calling Australia "soft" over the statement. Following the loss in the final Test, the former India opener said that the Aussie batter had "no right" to engage in an altercation with Bumrah.

"It's a tough sport played by tough men. You can't be that soft. As simple as it can get," he said.

"I don't think there was anything intimidating about it. He had no right to be talking to Jasprit Bumrah when Usman Khawaja was taking time. He had no right.

"He had no business to be involved with Jasprit Bumrah, that was a job for the umpire."

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