Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes 19-year-old rookie opener Sam Konstas has what it takes to make a mark in the remaining Border-Gavaskar trophy Tests against India.
With the series evenly poised at 1-1 heading into the final two Tests, Australia made changes to their squad with Konstas being called up in place of Nathan McSweeney.
Konstas, 19, will now make his international debut as both teams chase an unassailable lead as well as all-important ICC World Test Championship points.
“I’ve seen a lot, there’s a lot of talent there no doubt about it,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“The way he played in the PM’s XI game (he scored 107 against the Indians), the way that he was able to approach his first BBL game the other night…I know it’s different formats, but you can see that the talent is there and there’s also a bit of an attitude to go with it.
“And not a bad attitude, (but) an attitude that he knows that he’s good and he wants to show the world that he’s good.”
Featuring for the Prime Minister’s XI in a two-day game against the touring Indians after the Perth Test, Konstas attracted the spotlight with a century against the visiting side. In his 11 first-class matches Konstas has scored 718 runs at an average of 42.2, including two centuries and three half-centuries.
However, for all his early success, Ponting emphasised the uncapped batter would still feel the jitters on his debut – especially when facing up to the No.1-ranked ICC Test bowler Jasprit Bumrah. “There’s still a challenge there,” he said.
“It’s a Test match. It’s your first Test match. You’re playing against some of the best bowlers in the world. “It probably doesn’t get any bigger in world cricket right now. It’s like any other country debuting an opening batsman against our bowling attack, when you’ve got Starc, Cummins and Hazelwood there.
“Bumrah has obviously been the standout and probably the leading fast bowler in Test cricket at the moment. So Konstas will have a great challenge there, no doubt about it.”
But Ponting is confident Konstas will be up for the fight. “I don’t think he’s the sort of guy who’d be too worried about it,” Ponting said.
“I think he’ll be excited by it. He’ll want to try and put some pressure back on with the way that he plays. Like he’s not anyone that’s going to sit there and be five off 50 balls. He’s either going to be up and going or he’s going to be out a bit earlier on than that.”
“He’ll try and find ways to impose himself on the contest, which is one of the things I think everyone likes about him,” he added.