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December 22, 2024 - 10:04 am

Meet Sam Konstas: The 19-year-old Australia Batter Set to Open Against Jasprit Bumrah and Co. in Boxing Day Test Match

Konstas, 19 years and 85 days old, is in line to make his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test and will become the fourth-youngest Australian to debut in the longest format.

Australia have announced the squad for the next two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and there are a few notable personnel changes. The most significant one was the inclusion of Sam Konstas over Nathan McSweeney, who was troubled heavily by Jasprit Bumrah in the first three games.

Konstas, 19 years and 85 days old, is in line to make his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test and will become the fourth-youngest Australian to debut in the longest format. He has impressed at every turn and is coming on the back of quality performances in the domestic arena.

Konstas made his First Class debut for New South Wales against Tasmania in November last year and scored his maiden hundred a few months back. He amassed his maiden First Class century against South Australia, converting it into twin centuries, becoming the youngest batter to twin centuries in the Sheffield Shield since Ricky Ponting in 1993.

He has 718 runs at an average of 42.23 in 18 First Class innings, including three fifties and two centuries. Konstas compiled an unbeaten 73 against India A and helped Australia A win the contest by six wickets.

Later, the youngster also impressed in the 46-over contest against India, where he accumulated 107 runs in 97 balls, comprising 14 boundaries and a maximum, at a strike rate of 110.30. He continued his terrific form against Western Australia, scoring 88 runs in Sydney.

Recently, he made his Big Bash League (BBL) debut for Sydney Thunder and notched up the fastest fifty in the Sydney Thunder’s history in just 20 balls. Konstas scored 56 in his maiden BBL outing.

Earlier, he was part of Australia’s U-19 squad for the U-19 World Cup 2024. Konstas scored 191 runs in seven innings in the tournament, including a magnificent century against West Indies U-19.

His superior performances at every level were the biggest reason behind his selection, and the selectors knew his capabilities. Konstas has the game to excel in arduous conditions, as visible during his outings against India A which had some first-choice Indian bowlers.

He is touted as the next big thing in Australian cricket. So, his selection was always coming, even though McSweeney could have been given a longer rope since he was also new to the setup and slowly started to gain momentum.

Another reason to include him in the squad was his aggressive batting with intent. While McSweeney was impressive against every other Indian bowler barring Bumrah, he didn’t look to score runs and move the scorecard.

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That piled the pressure on other batters to look for runs and couldn’t play their natural game. Konstas has shown expertise in batting with intent and finding scoring options in difficult conditions.

That said, Konstas’ real test will begin now against a quality Indian attack that has a firing Jasprit Bumrah. Even if he navigates through the new-ball threat and provides some early runs, he would have done his job.

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