Start as you mean to go on. Before the ramped six and the cheeky shoulder check with Virat Kohli, and before the 52-ball half century, teenager Sam Konstas gave a clear indication of his mood as he belted out the national anthem with such gusto it cracked up veteran Steve Smith standing alongside him.
Konstas ran out to the centre after Pat Cummins won the toss and took guard ahead of the first ball against the world’s No.1 bowler Jasprit Bumrah, leaving Usman Khawaja at the non striker’s end.
The first couple of overs were almost painful to watch, but after a few Konstas flicked a switch and dominated the Indian star. He also delivered a naughty sledge aimed at Bumrah, during a drinks interview five runs before he was dismissed for 60.
Sam Konstas. (Photo by Morgan Hancock – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Having come into the team on the back of some BBL brilliance, the 19-year-old decided to shake things up. A couple of failed ramp shots had you worried for his wicket but then in one Bumrah over he ramped two fours and a six.
It led to an astonishing stat.
Interviewed at drinks, when on 55, Konstas said: “It’s quite surreal [I’m] just trying to play with freedom and just back myself. Hopefully I can get a few more.”
Asked about his decision to play ramp shots against Bumrah, the youngster replied: “I looked to keep targeting him”, adding “hopefully he might come back on, but we’ll see what happens.”
What happened was, Konstas didn’t get his wish to face the ICC’s No.1 ranked bowler in Bumrah, instead falling to the spin of Ravindra Jadeja.
The end of his innings was deflating after an extraordinary arrival that left Australian greats gushing.
“Bold, bold, bold,” said former Test opener and coach Justin Langer on 7’s coverage. “With all the freedom of youth he has come in, when most would freeze in this circumstance, he’s got a plan and he’s sticking with it. He said he was going to be bold, backing it up is another thing.”
Damien Fleming, also on 7, said: “The bowlers are rattled. Konstas has been proactive. It’s not erratic – this is the way he plays.”
“To play those ramps, you watch how fast his feet are,” added Langer. “He’s a dancer, or like a little boxer dancing around the ring against the heavyweight champion of the world.
“So he’s got fast feet, it’s very unorthodox fast feet, but I love his boldness.
“He’s come out and he’s backing it up. And that’s brilliant.”
Langer cast his mind ahead to the Ashes next year.
“We’ve talked all about Bazball. Give me a break. I’m going to call Sam Ball. If he does it for 12 months, we’ve got Sam Ball.”
Langer wasn’t the only one with Bazball on his mind.
“He’s been watching a lot of Bazball, I think!” said Mark Waugh on Fox after his first successful ramp shot.
Konstas was clearly intent on showing his personality on the biggest day of his career.
“The staring at the bowler… he looks up for the challenge, he doesn’t look at all shy or out of place, he’s looking the bowler in the eye and he’s got that little bit of arrogance about him and confidence, which you need at this level when you’re so young,” said Waugh.
“We were talking about it pre-game if he would play that shot and I said he might once he gets a few runs on the board, but not in the third over of your first Test match.
“He’s just sending a signal that I’m not intimidated and I’m going to play my way, I don’t care if I’m playing a Test match against the best bowler in the world, I’m going to do what I’m going to do.”
Adam Gilchrist, who played plenty of gobsmacking Test innings off his own, was pleased Konstas stuck solid to his plan despite a difficult start.
“It really comes down to a battle of the mind for Konstas. He’s shown his hand, it hasn’t quite come off, but is he showing that in a nervous, intimidated way? It looks not. This is a match plan. He’s backing himself,” Gilly said.
Kerry O’Keeffe added: “This is as exciting Test cricket as you’ll ever see! If people were casually tuning into the Boxing Day Test, this 19-year old from Hurstville, Sydney, has just lit up Test cricket in 35 minutes!”
As Konstas blew up, so did the socials. It went into overdrive when Kohli decided to engage in a mid pitch nudge on the youngster.