Sam Konstas’ on-field confrontations with India’s talismanic duo of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in his debut series certainly helped him become an overnight sensation with his social media numbers storming by 30,000 per cent. The 19-year-old, who made his debut in the penultimate Test of the five-match rubber in Melbourne, opened up on his on-field spat with Kohli and Bumrah, while effusing praises on the Indian cricket stalwarts.

Konstas also shared details about a chat with Kohli following the shoulder-bump in the Boxing Day Test, saying he told the Indian star that he “idolises him.”

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Konstas, who replaced Nathan McSweeney for the final two Tests at the top of the order, scored 60 off 65 balls, scooping Bumrah for fun in the early passage of play, leaving everyone enthralled. Though Bumrah took him out in the second innings, Konstas left everyone in Australia in awe of his talent.

“It was my first time playing in front of 90,000 people on day one at the MCG, and I was like, ‘holy crap, this is surreal. Playing against legends of the game like Kohli and Bumrah and playing with legends like Steve Smith and Pat Cummins, it is what I’ve dreamt of as a kid and I was just trying to soak up every second of it really. I’m very fortunate as a 19-year-old to be getting that experience and learning from the best,” Konstas told CODE Sports.

The youngster soon found himself at the centre of an on-field confrontation with Kohli during a gripping session of play when Konstas was in the midst of an impressive innings and Kohli bumped into the youngster in between overs. But, the right-hander revealed he sorted it out with Kohli off the field when the two had a chat after the game and the India star gave him best wishes for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.

“I had a little chat after the game telling him that I idolise him, and it’s obviously a huge honour playing against him. When I did verse him, I was like, ‘wow, Virat Kohli is batting.’ He just had that presence about him, all the Indian crowd getting amongst it. Chanting his name. It was quite surreal,” Konstas said.

“He was very down to earth. A lovely person and just wishing me all the best saying hopefully I go well on the tour of Sri Lanka he said if I’m in. My whole family loves Virat. I’ve idolised him from a young age and he’s a legend of the game,” he added.

In the Sydney Test, Konstas once again landed himself in a soup after exchanging words with Bumrah. He revealed the exchange stemmed from him trying to waste time to prevent India from bowling another over before the end of the day.

However, his efforts went in vain as his opening partner Usman Khawaja perished a ball later to the same bowler.

“I feel like I love being in the contest and trying to put my best foot forward. I feel like it’s probably a good learning for me. I was trying to waste a little bit of time there so they didn’t get another over. But he (Bumrah) had the last laugh. Obviously he is world class and he took, what, 32 wickets in the series. If that happened again, maybe I wouldn’t have said anything,” he said.