'Can't be that soft': Gambhir takes a swipe at Aussies

India have fired one last shot at Sam Konstas, calling Australia "soft" for suggesting Jasprit Bumrah and his teammates had intimidated the teenager during the decisive SCG Test.

But captain Pat Cummins has defended the 19-year-old from those who tried to "put (Konstas) back in his place" during a memorable first two Tests for Australia.

After Australia's six-wicket win that sealed victory in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India coach Gautam Gambhir insisted Konstas had "no right" to chirp at Bumrah and spark a confrontation that increased tensions to boiling point on day one.

The opening batter had seemingly attempted to waste time late in the day to guard against the chance of a wicket falling if another over was bowled under lights.

But the tactic backfired and Konstas found himself stormed by Indian players at the non-strikers end when Bumrah took Usman Khawaja's wicket on the last ball of the day.

Andrew McDonald said he had checked on Konstas' welfare after the "intimidating" episode, but Gambhir shrugged at the Australian coach's concerns on Sunday.

"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."

Gambhir was nonchalant when asked for his opinions on Virat Kohli's physical confrontation with Konstas at the MCG, where tensions between India and the teenager were first inflamed.

"Whatever happened, happened," he said.

"I don't think we need to make a big issue out of it. 

"It is not just incidents that have happened in this series. It has happened in the past as well. A lot of Australian players in the past have done it as well."

Cummins said he was "really impressed" Konstas had brought his confident self to both his batting and to India's attempts to rile him.

"I think people mistake a bit of confidence for bullying or abuse," the paceman said.

"You're allowed to walk around with your shoulders puffed back and play a few cricket shots. I don't think that's illegal, but some people really take offence to that and want to put him pack in his place.

"We say the same to all our players, just bring yourself every day, be yourself, go about it how you think represents yourself the best and how you want to play. 

"I think he's been really good this series. He's stood up for himself when he needed to."

Konstas tried to play down the incident involving him and Bumrah after the win.

"I didn't get too fazed. Unfortunately, Uzzie got out," he said on Triple M.

"(I was) just trying to buy some time, a little bit. It was probably my fault, but it happens, it's cricket.

"Credit to Bumrah, he got the wicket."

Gambhir, primarily an opener across 58 Tests, said Konstas had potential at the highest level.

"That's why he's playing Test cricket," he said.

But the Indian coach suggested Konstas had lessons to learn from his first two Test matches.

The teenager won hearts and minds for his dazzling ramp shots en route to a half-century in his first dig at the MCG, but could not parlay his aggressive approach into big scores in the three innings that followed.

He most notably slogged straight to Washington Sundar as Australia chased 162 for victory in the second innings at the SCG.

"Obviously Test cricket is all about improving every day and sometimes you can't just go out there and keep smashing from ball one," Gambhir said.

"You've got to respect red-ball cricket as well. Hopefully he learns from these experiences. When you're playing against a high-quality attack like India, this will be a great learning for him going forward."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: Australia won by 184 runs

Fifth Test: Australia won by six wickets

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal