Sam Konstas' truth bomb for Aussie Test teammates after David Warner calls out glaring detail
Warner singled out the 19-year-old in a swipe at Australia's tactics against India.
Sam Konstas has added weight to David Warner's criticism of the Aussie Test side after admitting he needed to try a different batting approach to try and blunt the effectiveness of Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian quick terrorised the Aussie batters across all five Tests as his 32 wickets and player-of-the-series honours demonstrated.
Bumrah was unplayable at times and his relentless consistency and incredible ball movement was regarded by commentators as arguably the best display ever from a touring bowler to Australian shores. But it took the introduction of the 19-year-old Konstas in the fourth Test at the MCG for Australia to try a different tactic against the world's best bowler - and it paid off handsomely.
The young opener ramped and reverse-ramped Bumrah on a number of occasions and clearly rattled the Indian quick and his teammates after finding boundaries all around the ground for a dream Boxing Day half century on Test debut. Virat Kohli's shoulder-barge on the youngster showed the approach had definitely unsettled the tourists.
But it begged the question as to why Australia's other batters hadn't tried to be more aggressive against Bumrah, after constantly being dismissed trying to contain the Indian spearhead. Konstas himself played and missed at a number of typically devilish deliveries from Bumrah, before deciding that a drastic change was needed.
Sam Konstas says a new approach was needed against India
The youngster admits an aggressive batting approach was clearly missing from the opening three Tests, with Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney too passive at the top of the order until the latter was axed for Boxing Day. Marnus Labuschagne's strike rate was also at a snail's pace at times and Konstas says he quickly identified that something needed to change.
“I thought that was the best method at that time,” Konstas told The Daily Telegraph about attacking Bumrah in his eye-opening debut. “With me being new into the team I thought, let’s try put a bit of pressure because all series I don’t think we had a lot of intent like that. Maybe it was a bit too much. But I thought that was the best style at that time but on future tours, I think it will change with my game plans and how I go about things.”
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Konstas' admission backs up the previous criticism from former Test opener Warner, who questioned why it took a 19-year-old rookie and not a more experienced batter to show Australia the way. "They could have played different shots, they could have moved out of their crease and batted different," Warner said. "(Smith) Smudge tried a million different things. But it shouldn't take someone to come out there and be brave to get that momentum shifting.
"You have experience at the top of the order, experience in that whole line-up. Travis Head took the game away from them in Adelaide with that magnificent hundred. It shouldn't take that guy just to come and do that. It's the way the Australians played but other people can be braver as well."
Konstas' admission that he won't be able to use the same aggressive blueprint in other batting conditions comes after a similar warning from former Australia opener Simon Katich. The retired Aussie Test great says Konstas will need to formulate dways to score in different conditions but reckons his age and rookie status allowed the 19-year-old to go out and play relatively consequence-free against India.
"I think he's enjoyed that freedom, he's lapped it up but it is a high-risk style that he's playing at the moment and in certain conditions you'll able to do it when the wickets are flatter," Katich told SEN Radio. "But in this series in particular it has been harder for the batsmen to try and take the game on. We saw not just Sam but with Rishabh Pant, he did it... but long-term it's hard to do that at Test level when the ball is moving away like it is. And even in spinning conditions, so that will be the next challenge for him in Sri Lanka."
