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Ponting reckons that the young opening batter has a lot to learn if he is to establish himself as a long-term option for Australia’s opening slot in the longest format.
Sam Konstas scored a fifty on debut against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. (AP Photo)
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has issued his verdict after seeing Sam Konstas have his first run during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, in which he played the two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
Ponting reckons that the young opening batter has a lot to learn if he is to establish himself as a long-term option for Australia’s opening slot in the longest format. The former skipper reckons that Konstas’ ultra-aggressive style of play needs to be looked at if the youngster wants to play international cricket for a long time.
“I don’t think he can survive as a Test opening batsman playing like that all the time. So he will learn a lot from the first couple of games that he played as a batsman, but just as an international sportsman as well, I think he’ll learn a lot. It’s a big stage and he really enjoyed it at the MCG,” said Ponting on the ICC Review show.
“But I’ve seen this happen a lot with young players. They come in, they get overawed by everything a little bit, and it takes them a few games or a few series just to actually work out who they are and who they need to be successful international players,” he added.
The former India Head Coach Ravi Shastri also suggested that Konstas might’ve been too keen on making an impression in his debut Test series. But he acknowledged that the youngster had flustered the Indian team and advised him to bring out more of his defensive game in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
“I think it was more the exuberance of youth. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof. He wanted to announce himself straight away. There was a lot of talk. He’s someone who’ll take the attack to the opposition.”
“He wanted to walk the talk, and he did that. He flustered India, there’s no doubt about that, in Melbourne. But my advice to him would be ‘You’ve got talent, the focus should be on scoring runs more than anything else’. You focus on your strengths. You play the way you want.”
“I think the tour of Sri Lanka in many ways will help. Getting out of Australia, playing overseas, and then getting to learn a lot of other things and maturing,” he concluded.
