Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Ready with plan to tackle Bumrah: Konstas

Sam Konstas does not yet know whether he will make his debut in the cauldron of the fourth Test against India on Thursday but the Australian teenager says some advice from former opener Shane Watson will hold him in good stead if he does.

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The 19-year-old’s parents will be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26 along with 59-Test all-rounder Watson and his wife Lee, who manages Konstas, to support the youngster if he gets handed his baggy green cap.

Brought into the squad as a replacement for the peremptorily dumped makeshift opener Nathan McSweeney, Konstas said the advice from Watson about facing the likes of Jasprit Bumrah had been fairly straightforward.

“Just another day at it, back myself and be fearless,” Konstas recalled when he spoke to reporters on Monday. “I admire Shane Watson a lot. I like to take the game on and put pressure on the bowlers. He’s a legend of the game and hopefully I can do that this week on my debut. It’s pretty simple — just back myself and just ‘see ball, hit ball’ really.”

Konstas has been in prolific form in First-Class cricket this season, including a century against an Indian selection in the tour match in Canberra and a 73 against India ‘A’ on his last visit to the MCG.

After Australia’s top order struggled for runs in the first three Tests of a series that remains in the balance at 1-1, a huge wave of momentum built up behind the case for Konstas’ call-up to the team.

“It’s a huge honour, as a kid I’ve always dreamed of it,” he said. “I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible, get my prep right and see what happens. It’s happened really quick ... I wasn’t too fazed. But I feel like I’m a pretty relaxed person and I’m just trying to live in the moment.”

India lack ability to take 20 wickets: Pujara

The Indian team in Australia lacks a bowling attack that is good enough to take 20 wickets in a Test, Cheteshwar Pujara said and called it the side’s biggest concerns heading into the last two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The visitors have been relying heavily on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to get them wickets and while he has been a great success with both the red and pink ball, the peerless fast bowler has not received enough support from the other end, something that has plagued India besides their top-order batting woes.

“My biggest question and the reason for a little bit of concern is that the Indian bowling is looking a little weak,” Pujara said.

“Batting is a little better, like the top five didn’t do well, but the middle order and lower middle order, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish (Reddy), and even tailenders Bumrah and Akash Deep contributed with the bat. Now, there is a weakness in the bowling, so what will you feed the team? That is the biggest question, because you can’t drop Nitish, you can’t drop Jadeja, so what will be the team combination?”

Shami ruled out of remaining Australia Tests

Seamer Mohammed Shami will not be considered for India’s fourth and fifth Tests in Australia due to a knee injury, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said. The 34-year-old has fully recovered from his heel injury after undergoing surgery in February. He was not picked in the squad but there was a chance he could be added to support pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Shami has not played international cricket since the 50-overs World Cup last year but has returned to domestic cricket to prove his fitness. “His left knee has exhibited minor swelling due to increased joint loading from his bowling workload. The swelling is on the expected lines, owing to the increased bowling after a prolonged period,” the BCCI said in a statement. “Based on the current medical assessment, the BCCI medical team has determined that his knee requires more time for controlled exposure to bowling loads.” Reuters