Batting prodigy Konstas takes huge step towards Test dream

Batting prodigy Sam Konstas will join the fast track into national team colours when he is named in the Australia A squad this week, while India may be setting up a Test match showdown between fast-bowling captains in Perth next month.

Three senior cricket sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the squad has yet to be named, indicated that 19-year-old Konstas would be chosen for the Australia A side to play two games against India A starting in late October.

NSW cricketer Sam Konstas.Credit: Getty Images

Those games will follow a star-studded Sheffield Shield meeting between New South Wales and Victoria at the MCG next week, providing Konstas with a carpet of red-ball cricket on which to dance further into the national selectors’ plans.

Twin centuries against South Australia last week made Konstas the first teenager to achieve that feat in the Shield since an 18-year-old Ricky Ponting in 1993, and further big scores against Victoria and India A would conceivably make him a rough chance to vault into the Test team against India.

As senior figures have pondered over the past week: “What if he gets five hundreds in a row?”

Another young batter to watch will be South Australia’s captain, Nathan McSweeney, who alongside a freewheeling Alex Carey made the hundreds that prevented NSW from spinning to victory after Konstas’ centuries.

McSweeney’s composure in defusing the wiles of Test tweaker Nathan Lyon and white-ball international Tanveer Sangha was a neat example of why he is already viewed glowingly in selection circles and has been identified for leadership roles.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma (left) with Jasprit Bumrah.Credit: AP

India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, is now on course to lead the side in at least one of the Tests against Pat Cummins’ Australia because Rohit Sharma is likely to miss one of the first two matches for personal reasons.

Meetings between two sides led by fast bowlers are rare events – perhaps last seen when Shaun Pollock and Waqar Younis led South Africa and Pakistan against each other in a series in 2002-03 – but Cummins’ example has made more selection panels open to the idea.

Bumrah, who has already led India in one Test and was this week named vice-captain, is not shy about saying that fast bowlers should be considered as leadership material more often than in the past.

“I feel the bowlers are the smart people, as we have to get the batters out. We are always fighting the odds as the grounds are shorter, the bats are better,” Bumrah told an Indian chat show earlier this year. “Bowlers are doing the hard job. They are not hiding behind a bat. They are not hiding behind a flat wicket.

“When you lose a game, bowlers are blamed. It is a hard job. I take a lot of pride in doing that job. You have to face a lot of challenges. Because of these challenges, bowlers find new ways to succeed. Fighting the odds makes you a lot braver, and leadership needs you to be brave.”

It is through Cummins’ example that Bumrah’s interest in leadership has been fired, as the Australian captain has shown leadership need not be a burden for a fast bowler, but a responsibility on which to thrive as a senior player.

“We have seen Pat Cummins doing really well. I have seen Wasim Akram captaining. Kapil Dev and Imran Khan have won a World Cup. Sometimes, physically it is stressful, that’s why leadership goes to batters. [But] in my opinion, bowlers are the smart ones,” Bumrah said.

“Perception changes with results. I came from a perception that this bowling action will not work, but now people try to copy it.

“You don’t try to say things; you let your results talk. Pat Cummins is a big example. He got a lot of positive results. He won the World Cup and World Test Championship. I do not think it is a burden. When you play cricket, you want responsibility.”

All-rounder Cameron Green is yet to formally declare his decision on whether to miss the summer by having back surgery, as he continues discussions with those close to him after a briefing from Cricket Australia medical staff on Thursday.

Nevertheless, he is considered highly unlikely to take the non-surgical option, even if it would allow him scope to play against India as a batter alone rather than missing months of cricket to recuperate from the surgery.

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