Brad Hogg blasts Andrew McDonald for accusing India of bullying Sam Konstas

Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg slammed head coach Andrew McDonald for his comments about India’s “intimidating” celebration of debutant Sam Konstas in the Sydney Test. Brad Hogg hit back at Andrew McDonald’s comments, saying calling it bullying is going a bit too far.

The controversy unfolded during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after Usman Khawaja’s dismissal in Australia’s first innings. Jasprit Bumrah and Sam Konstas engaged in a verbal exchange before the dismissal. Bumrah gave Konstas an intense look after taking the wicket on the last ball of Day 1.

The way India celebrated this was quite intimidating – Andrew McDonald

The visibly excited Indian players celebrated Khawaja’s goal by standing in front of Konstas, who was at the non-striker’s end. Andrew McDonald criticized India’s celebration after Khawaja’s dismissal, saying: “Clearly the way India celebrated this was quite intimidating.”

Australia cruised to a 3-1 series win in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Sam Konstas scored 113 runs in four innings at an average of 28.25. Konstas is expected to retain his place in the squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka as Australia aim to prepare him for the home Ashes series in late 2025.

That’s taking it a little too far – Brad Hogg

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Brad Hogg disagreed with Andrew McDonald’s comments. Hogg noted that Konstas had previously been involved in sledding Indian batsmen. The former cricketer said Konstas should be ready for similar treatment in return.

“The coach came out and said the Indian players were bullying Konstas and there’s a mental health issue, I think that’s taking it a bit too far,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel.

“If you want to say a few words to the opposing team, you want to hit balls for four, go down and serve the bowler as he goes back to the mark, you have to sit there and hit it. On the return as well,” he added. .

Sam Konstas had a dramatic debut Test series, which included a controversial shoulder incident with Virat Kohli during the Boxing Day Test. After the altercation, Kohli was fined 20% of his match fees and given a demerit point.

Coach shouldn’t be talking about Indian intimidation – Brad Hogg

Brad Hogg said Andrew McDonald should focus on preparing his players for such incidents, rather than publicly defending them. Hogg further claimed that McDonald should not discuss India’s “bullying”, but should coach Konstas on how to respond to opposition actions.

“The coach should not be talking about bullying India. The coach should be talking to his player about how he will handle the retaliation from the opposing team instead of defending him because if you want to give , you got it. to get it back, too,” Hogg added in the same video.

Read also: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh to return