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Sam Konstas earned his maiden Australia Test call-up on Friday, December 20, and the 19-year-old right-handed batter is expected to open for the Baggy Greens in the Boxing Day Test against India.
Sam Konstas earned his maiden Australia Test call-up on Friday, December 20. (Picture Credit: X/@cricketcomau)
Cricket Australia on Friday (December 20) announced Australia’s squad for the last two Tests of the ongoing five-match series against India. South Australian batter Nathan McSweeney, who opened for the Pat Cummins-led side in the first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was dropped from the squad after scoring 10, 0, 39, 10*, 9, and 4 runs in the last six innings. In his place, 19-year-old New South Wales batter Sam Konstas has earned his maiden Australia Test call-up. The right-handed batter is expected to partner Usman Khawaja at the top and open for the Baggy Greens in the Boxing Day Test, which is set to start on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Who’s Sam Konstas?
Sam Konstas is a 19-year-old right-handed batter who plays for New South Wales. In 11 First Class matches played so far, Konstas, with the help of two centuries and three fifties, has scored 718 runs. His last FC class match for the NSW was against Western Australia in Sydney from December 6-9, 2024, and he hammered 88 runs from 145 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes.
The former U-19 Australia star also played in the pink-ball warm-up match for the Prime Ministers XI against India at Manuka Oval in Canberra on December 1 and scored 107 runs from 97 balls.
Konstas last took the field on December 17 for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League 2024-25 match against Adelaide Strikers and scored 56 runs from 27 balls. It was his first-ever match in the BBL, and he entered his name in the history books by scoring the fastest fifty by a Sydney Thunder batter.
The Greece-born cricketer was part of the Australia A team that played two unofficial Tests against India A last month. In the first match, which was staged in Mackay, he was dismissed for 0 and 16 runs by Mukesh Kumar, but in the second match at MCG, Konstas scored 14 and 73 runs. In the second innings, he, however, came out to bat at No. 4 and faced 128 balls.
