Last Updated:January 09, 2025, 10:27 IST

Sam Konstas scored a 60 in his debut innings but couldn’t cross even half of that number in next three ties.

Sam Konstas in action [Photo: AP]

Former England fast-bowler Steve Harminson is ambivalent about Australia’s latest batting debutant Sam Konstas’ future in Test cricket. He recently said the 19-year-old Konstas might not ‘even play 10 Tests’ or might become a ‘superstar if he delivers’.

Harminson’s doubts were rooted in Konstas’ unpolished defensive technique. In the two Tests he played against India, Konstas scored 60, 8, 23 and 22. While he impressed with his batting range, audacity to hit Jasprit Bumrah for ramps and scoops, and confident chirpiness against the visitors, Indian pacers managed to exploit his technical weaknesses too.

“Part of me thinks Sam Konstas won’t play even 10 Test matches,” Harminson said on talkSPORT cricket. “Part of me thinks this kid can be an absolute superstar if he delivers. He’s got the chat, he’s got the ramps, he’s got the scoops, he’s got the big shots, but has he got a defensive technique to open the batting in Test match cricket against the world’s best?”

Harminson added that Konstas ‘just wants to be’ David Warner but doesn’t have the same robustness as the retired left-hander, saying he’d be ‘happy’ if the teenager was Australia’s opener in the Ashes in November.

“I look at him and think he just wants to be David Warner and technically he’s nowhere near as good as David and that for me… if he is opening the batting against England, I’d be happy. I really would. I know we are a really long way away from The Ashes,” Harmison said.

Australia have included Konstas in the 16-man squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The man he replaced in the third Test against India, Nathan McSweeney, has also been included.

The tour might bring a massive challenge for both players. While McSweeney is known as one of the better young players of spin in Australia, Konstas doesn’t have that image.

Having already qualified for the World Test Championship final, Australia don’t have much on the line in the two Tests so they shouldn’t be shy of experimentation, including playing both McSweeney and Konstas together.

The tour starts on January 29, with the second Test from February 6. Both matches will be played in Galle.