NEW DELHI: Former India player and head coach Ravi Shastri suggests that Sam Konstas‘ excessive verbal exchanges on the field stemmed from the young Australian batter’s desire to make a strong impression in Test cricket.
Konstas was at the center of a confrontation with star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah on the opening day of the fifth Test at SCG.
As the day’s play neared its end, Bumrah, eager to bowl one more over, faced resistance from the Australian players, who were attempting to waste time. This led to a heated exchange of words between Konstas and the Indian pacer.
Konstas scored 113 runs in his first two Tests against India, with an average of 28.25, and impressed everyone with a dynamic 60 off 65 balls on his debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He has also been named in Australia’s squad for the upcoming Test tour of Sri Lanka, set to begin later this month in Galle.
“I think it was more the exuberance of youth. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof. He wanted to announce himself straight away,” Shastri told The ICC Review.
“There was a lot of talk. He’s someone who’ll take the attack to the opposition. And he wanted to walk the talk. And he did that.
“He flustered India, there’s no doubt about that, in Melbourne. But my advice to him would be ‘you’ve got talent, the focus should be on scoring runs more than anything else’. You focus on your strengths. You play the way you want.”
Shastri also feels Konstas has to back his defensive game in his first overseas Test trip in Sri Lanka. “I think the tour of Sri Lanka in many ways will help. Getting out of Australia, playing overseas, and then getting to learn a lot of other things and maturing,” he said.
Australia batting great Ricky Ponting believes that Konstas has a long journey ahead if he aims to establish himself as a Test opener. He added that playing two matches against India would have provided Konstas with valuable learning experiences.
“I don’t think he can survive as a Test opening batsman playing like that all the time. So he will learn a lot from the first couple of games that he played as a batsman, but just as an international sportsman as well, I think he’ll learn a lot. It’s a big stage and he really enjoyed it at the MCG.”
“But I’ve seen this happen a lot with young players. They come in, they get overawed by everything a little bit, and it takes them a few games or a few series just to actually work out who they are and who they need to be successful international players,” said Ponting on the ICC Review show.
