Melbourne [Australia], December 31 (ANI): Australia head coach Andrew McDonald hailed young batting sensation Sam Konstas for putting pressure back on” opponents in the first inning at the Melbourne Test against India, ICC Cricket reported.
Australia clinched an 184-run victory over India in the Melbourne Test and took a 2-1 lead in the series, also ending India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s early next year. Currently, Australia lead 2-1 over India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 19-year-old Konstas was called into the squad in place of Nathan McSweeney and had an uphill task to open for Australia in front of a sell-out crowd against a proven Indian pace attack.
Konstas was entertaining throughout his stay on the crease and became a popular face among Australian fans. He made the headlines with a sublime ramp shot off Bumrah in the first inning at the Melbourne Test, declaring his intent to be aggressive even against the brand-new red ball.
In his 11 first-class matches Konstas has scored 718 runs at an average of 42.2, including two centuries and three half-centuries.
Speaking to the reporters, McDonald admitted Konstas’ fiery knock against India at the Melbourne Test surprised him a little bit.
“I suppose the conversation was how early was he going to get into those proactive shots, and twelfth ball did surprise me a little bit,” McDonald was quoted by ICC as saying.
The head coach added that the selectors have followed his journey from a long time.
“We knew what we were getting into as selectors. You follow that journey. Did we get a little bit more than what we expected? No doubt about that. His ability to put pressure on, and I think people talk about heavy duty runs in the first innings, and he put the pressure back on and allowed our middle order to get to work,” he added.
He added that the top batting order of Australia could work in the future.
“And Steve Smith capitalised on that and Marnus (Labuschagne) was good, so it set the tone. There’s no doubt about that. I thought that combination of top looked like something going forward that could work,” he added.
Australia set a target of 340 runs to India at the start of Day 05 of the Melbourne Test. The visitors had the whole day but couldn’t make it count. Fiery spells from the Aussie bowling attack bundled out India at 155 in the 80th over.
Pat Cummins was named the ‘Player of the Match’ following a stupendous performance with both bat and ball. (ANI)
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