Konstas stares down Kohli and Bumrah, Warne is honoured and Labuschagne cops a blow on Boxing Day

It was all about Sam Konstas for the first hour on Boxing Day before a game of old school Test cricket broke out between Australia and India at the MCG.

• Kohli vs Konstas: Virat shirtfronts Aussie debutant
• Scorecard: Check out all the live scores and stats

Here are the quick hits from day one of the fourth Test.

1. Konstas wastes no time fronting up

Fans did not have to wait too long to see Sam Konstas in action on Boxing Day.

The official scoreboard inside the MCG had Usman Khawaja slated to face the first delivery of the day, but Konstas shocked those watching by taking guard instead to a huge roar.

To start his career, Konstas was handed the toughest assignment the game has to offer these days — Jasprit Bumrah with a new ball.

Bumrah didn’t waste any time submitting Konstas to a thorough examination either. The Indian champion beat the bat of Konstas four separate times in a sublime opening over, with all four deliveries identical out-swingers.

Konstas won his spot over Nathan McSweeney partly because Australia wanted more aggression at the top of the order, and showed instantly how he will give the home side a different look.

In Bumrah’s second over, Konstas unfurled two attempted scoop shots but missed both.

That was his plan apparently, because by Bumrah’s third over, the 19-year-old had got his eye in.

Konstas took 14 runs off the next Bumrah over — all from ramps and reverse ramps — leaving everyone in attendance in disbelief.

2. Kohli and Konstas have a run-in

Konstas’s audacious stroke-play got under the skin of the Indians in the first hour of play.

The ever-combustible Mohammed Siraj didn’t take a liking to Konstas walking down the pitch to him, and then was pasted through the off side for a boundary.

As Konstas ran down the pitch while the ball rocketed to the boundary, he stared down Siraj.

Virat Kohli wasn’t a fan of all of this, and came running up from the slips after the next ball to stare down the Australian debutant.

At the end of Siraj’s over, Kohli wanted more of Konstas, this time bumping him as the pair crossed paths.

Konstas did not take a backward step, calling out the former Indian skipper, as Khawaja and the umpire intervened.

Any sort of physical contact between players is heavily frowned upon in cricket, and it will be interesting to see how Zimbabwean match referee Andy Pycroft views the incident.

3. Marnus finds himself in the wars

Apparently the theme of Boxing Day was batters getting hit in the box.

After Konstas was struck in the first session, Marnus Labuschagne was hit in the same region twice in two deliveries from Siraj after lunch.

The first one wasn’t the worst, more in the thigh pad area, the second was the stuff of nightmares.

Siraj appealed after striking Labuschagne squarely in the box, as the pain caused the batsman to drop to his knees.

As they did in the morning session, the team doctors came out to check on Labuschagne and he was cleared to continue after a short consultation.

The strike was so significant on Labuschagne’s box that the ball left a cherry on his pants, basically providing the Indian bowlers a target to aim at.

If copping two low blows in two deliveries wasn’t enough, Labuschagne got hit one more time later on in Siraj’s spell.

4. Khawaja gets a much-needed score

One of the biggest beneficiaries from Konstas’s madness at the top of the order was his batting partner at the other end.

It is no secret Khawaja has played his best cricket while partnering David Warner.

Warner’s manic aggression had bowlers on edge, often allowing Khawaja to accumulate effortlessly in the background.

When partnered with McSweeney, also an accumulator, Khawaja found himself bogged down during the first three Tests.

As Konstas laid waste to India’s bowlers in the morning session, Khawaja looked at his most fluent.

At one point during the first hour of play, Khawaja was operating at a strike rate somewhere in the 70s, almost unheard of in a Test innings for him.

The result was a half-century, his first of the series and first since the start of the year, and it was badly needed for the 38-year-old, whose spot in the team came under pressure after a lean run.

Unfortunately for Khawaja, he was dismissed for 57 in the middle session, and he will feel he left a century on the table.

5. The MCG rises as one to salute Warne

There was a touching moment on Boxing Day when the crowd paid tribute to the late, great Shane Warne.

Warne’s children were out on the ground and waved their father’s iconic floppy hat at 3:50pm as the crowd broke into a round of applause.

The time was significant because 350 was Warne’s Test cap number.

In somewhat poetic scenes, Steve Smith hit a boundary right just moments prior to the tribute to Warne.

Smith’s score at the time? 23, the number Warne made famous when playing limited overs cricket for Australia.

6. Post-drinks mini-collapse

The Aussies were coasting with Labuschagne and Smith looking comfortable at the crease when the teams took the first of two drinks breaks in the final session after 65 overs.

But, first ball after the break, Labuschagne sliced an attempted slog straight to Kohli at mid-off, gifting Washington Sundar his wicket and robbing himself of a century.

In came Travis Head, the form batter of the series by some distance, but he was accompanied by Bumrah returning to the attack.

For the second time on day one he struck in the first over of a new spell, with Head leaving a ball that seamed back in and dislodged the off bail.

Two overs later, Bumrah had his third of the innings and 24th for the series when he got Mitch Marsh for 4.

In the space of 24 balls, Australia had lost 3-9 and were in a spot of bother as Alex Carey came to the crease.

The biggest Australia-India moments

Throughout the summer, we’ll look back at some of the best stories and share our own favourite moments from Australia and India’s cricket history.

Join us to continue the conversation on our live blogs and on the radio over the summer before the readers’ top 10 is revealed ahead of the fifth Test at the SCG from January 3.

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