New Delhi, Dec 26 Former India coach Ravi Shastri showered high praise on Sam Konstas for his brilliant knock against India on the opening day of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday, describing the Australian debutant opener's maiden half-century as an exhibition of swagger and skill reminiscent of the legendary Virender Sehwag.
Konstas turned heads on the first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, defying convention and dismantling India’s potent bowling attack with a fearless display of stroke play. The 19-year-old debutant’s audacious approach, particularly against the formidable Jasprit Bumrah, drew praise and comparisons to cricketing legends from pundits and former players. “I don’t think anyone has taken or treated Bumrah like that in any format of the game, let alone red-ball cricket,” Shastri remarked in his comments on Star Sports network. “For him to go out there with that swag and attempt some outrageous shots—it was something else. He tore that MCC coaching manual to shreds.”
Konstas's ramp shots and bold pulls left the Indian bowlers scrambling for answers. Shastri recounted how the Indian team initially underestimated the young batter, only to see their confidence evaporate as he began to dominate. “They thought, ‘If he takes chances, we’ll get him quickly’. But as soon as this started happening, all the smiles disappeared. The ideas disappeared,” Shastri noted. “At one point, it felt like India had run out of ideas. They actually didn’t know what hit them.”
Drawing parallels with legendary India opener Sehwag, Shastri predicted a bright future for Konstas. “He reminds me a lot of Virender Sehwag when he first burst onto the scene. He’ll entertain when he gets going, and he’s born to entertain. If he plays for any length of time for Australia, he’ll do exactly that,” Shastri added.
Former Australia batter and coach Justin Langer also heaped praises on Konstas, highlighting the difficulty of attacking a bowler like Bumrah. “He’s been given a license to go and attack Bumrah, but that’s not easy—that is so hard to do. Even in T20 cricket, Bumrah’s economy rate is as good as anyone’s. So it’s not easy to do that,” Langer said.
Langer revealed that the Indian team did not expect Konstas to play with such audacity. “I did speak to K.L. Rahul before the game. And I said, ‘Have you seen this kid Sam Konstas?’ He said, ‘Oh, we only saw him in the Prime Minister’s XI game. He was playing these ramp shots and all this sort of stuff’. Rahul said, ‘But he won’t do that today.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, sure he won’t do that today’. And straight away, Sam Konstas was doing that.”
Konstas’s bold approach laid the foundation for Australia’s strong position at stumps on Thursday with 311/6 with Steve Smith (68 not out) and skipper Pat Cummins (batting on 8) at the crease.
Shastri acknowledged that Australia held the upper hand but credited India for clawing back into the contest.
“At one stage, it looked like Australia would bat India out of the contest. When Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were together, had that partnership carried on, Australia could have ended the day three or four down and in a tremendous position,” Shastri said.
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