Australian captain Pat Cummins gave his own example to relieve some pressure off batting prodigy Sam Konstas. The 19-year-old is set to make his test debut against India in the fourth Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) test in Melbourne from Thursday, December 26.
Konstas has replaced Nathan McSweeney, who played as an opener for the Australian side in the first three tests. However, he could score only 72 runs in six innings, with a top knock of 39.
Konstas comes into the side on the back of impressive recent domestic performances. While playing for PM-XI, he slammed 107 off 97 against India in a practice game. Then, he returned with a riveting knock of 56 off 27 balls in the Big Bash League, which saw him register the quickest (20 balls) half-century by a Sydney Thunder player.
However, the young batter will be under pressure ahead of the Boxing Day Test, where he will face Jasprit Bumrah for the first time, as the ace Indian pacer didn’t feature in the practice game.
However, Pat Cummins tried his best to calm the nerves of Sam Konstas, who is up for the biggest challenge of his cricketing career. He remembered his debut as an 18-year-old in November 2011 against South Africa in Johannesburg, where he emerged as Player of the Match with figures of 1/38 & 6/79, as Australia won by two wickets.
Cummins passed on the message that Konstas has nothing to lose in his debut test, and suggested he enjoy his debut test.
“It almost felt like if I didn’t have a great game, it wasn’t my fault. It was the selectors’ fault for picking me. I was like, ‘Well, they’re the idiots who picked an 18-year-old.'”
“You’re so young starting out your career (and) it’s Boxing Day. It doesn’t get any better than this, so just enjoy the moment,” he added.
Pat Cummins feels ‘heat’ will play crucial part in Melbourne test
Pat Cummins also shared his opinion on the nature of the surface in Melbourne for the fourth test. As per the weather forecast, the highest temperature of 36°C is expected during the day time in the city.
In the ongoing domestic season, sides have failed to post big scores on the board on a consistent basis in MCG due to the surface offering pace and bounce. Although, Cummins observed that the pitch is lively ahead of the game, he thinks heat will have a significant effect on how the surface behaves throughout the game.
“The pitch looks really good. (It is) quite consistent to what it has been here for the last few years,” he said.
“(There is a) bit of grass coverage and it feels nice and firm. They’ve done a great job here for … probably the last five to six years with their pitches and I suspect (it will be) the same this year.
“(We will) look at the pitch and get a bit of a sense of what the day is going to feel like, and then you kind of make a decision from then. So I think (the heat) is a factor,” he added.
India heads into the Melbourne test with an unbeaten record since the BGT 2014-15, as they won two and lost one. It will be interesting to see if the hosts can win the game and hold an edge ahead of the Sydney test.
FAQs
What happened in last IND-AUS test in Melbourne?
India won by 8 wickets
Who is the top-scorer in BGT history among current squad of both teams?
Virat Kohli – 2,105 runs in 47 innings @46.77, with 9 hundreds
