Andrew McDonald, Australia's head coach, expressed worry about the Indian team's "intimidating" celebrations following Usman Khawaja's dismissal on the first day of the fifth Border-Gavaskar (BGT 2024) Trophy Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The incident occurred when India's players surrounded non-striker Sam Konstas following Khawaja's dismissal. McDonald claimed that he spoke with Konstas after the day's play to ensure that the young batter was mentally prepared to continue.

"My conversation with him was just around whether he's okay. Clearly, the way that India celebrated that, it was quite intimidating," McDonald said during a press interaction on Saturday.

McDonald stated that no official penalties or fines were enforced on the Indian team, indicating that the celebrations were legal under the Laws of the Game. He did, however, express surprise at the episode and its potential implications on Konstas.

"To have an opposition swarm the non-striker like that, we've got a duty of care to our player to make sure he's okay and in the right head space to go out and perform the next day," McDonald said.

When asked if he believed India had overstepped, McDonald refrained from direct criticism but hinted at broader implications.

"It's clear it was deemed acceptable since there were no penalties. If the ICC and the Match Referee thought it was satisfactory, then that sets the benchmark for what's allowed," he said.

India made 185 in the first innings and bowled out Australia for 181 runs. India then ended day 2 on 141/6 with a lead of 145 runs.