Australia batting great Ricky Ponting believes young Sam Konstas has a long way to go if he is to cement his place as a Test opener, and added that playing two matches against India would have given him a lot of learnings. Konstas made 113 in his first two Tests against India, averaging 28.25 and enthralling everyone with a rollicking 60 off 65 balls on debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Konstas has also been included in Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka, starting later this month in Galle.
“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.”
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“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.
Former India player and head coach Ravi Shastri believes Konstas’ eagerness to announce himself with a bang in the Tests led to him being more than chatty on the field. “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. There was a lot of talk. He’s someone who’ll take the attack to the opposition.”
“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.
