28 December,2024 07:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Ian Chappell
Australia’s Sam Konstas plays a ramp shot against India on Day One in Melbourne on Thursday. Pic/AFP
The team doesn't mention it but the player Australia has badly missed is the ultra-aggressive opener David Warner.
Australia were without a top order batsman who could disrupt the opposition with their stroke play and make opposition bowlers think differently. Well on Boxing Day they found such a player in vibrant young opener Sam Konstas.
He not only disrupted India and gave Jasprit Bumrah something to seriously ponder but he also frustrated the opposition. In the end Virat Kohli succumbed and resorted to a physical approach. This is not the answer; cricket isn't a physical game it requires skill and thought.
Konstas' strategy was sound; shift some of the catching fielders and don't allow good bowlers to operate the way they want to or you're in big trouble. It was his execution that was so different from Warner's and it remains to be seen if his is a viable long-term method.
It certainly worked on Boxing Day but India will have noted that whenever Konstas played traditional cricket shots his success rate was extremely low. Will this mean in future India tries to force Konstas to play more normal cricket shots?
This is part of the on-going battle in Test cricket; a player arrives batting in an unusual manner, then it's up to the opposition bowlers to re-assess. Once the bowling team reacts then it's the batsman who has to make an adjustment. This is an ongoing process until one gains the upper hand.
Apart from creating an immediate cult following, Konstas made life simpler for his fellow batsmen. Konstas' outrageous blitz on the Indian new ball bowlers allowed Australia to burst out of the gates and put themselves in a strong position.
In his own way Konstas caused India to slip into the mentality of feeling sorry for itself about the opposition playing and missing and edges falling short of the cordon. It wasn't until late in the day when the batting took on a more normal approach that Bumrah began to re-exert some control over the Australian team.
In the build up, Konstas' statistical likeness to Ricky Ponting [twin centuries in a shield game] was noted. Normally a statistical likeness with one of Australia's best batsmen incurs placing a heavy burden on the newcomer. However Konstas made light of any debutant pressure but the burden will come later when - not if - he fails.
It's then that his method will be questioned rather than admired. How Konstas reacts will decide whether he has the courage and skill to disregard the doubters as Warner did to become a highly successful batsman.
What Konstas' gregarious attitude did do was to energise Steve Smith who rediscovered his old-self and began to play with more freedom. Smith's stroke play and skipper Pat Cummins's determination put Australia on the path to a big total.
With Australia dominating the must win Test, India needed to mount a strong fight back.
It was then that the confident Yashasvi Jaiswal made it the story of two brash young openers as he instituted his own form of disruption. Playing with flair, scintillating strokes and assurance, Jaiswal with solid assistance from a determined Kohli, pushed India into safer waters.
Just when it looked as though India was mounting a serious challenge, Jaiswal went and spoiled it all by saying "yes". The inexcusable mix-up that followed resulted in Jaiswal being needlessly run out. Then Kohli, disoriented by the senseless waste, lost concentration and his dismissal meant India were in big trouble.
The talented young openers from each side played their part in giving this Test a sense of drama but Konstas was better supported by his more experienced team mates.
Now it remains to be seen if India can re-group and provide the fight needed to keep Australia at bay. India will require all the resolve they can muster as the result of this Test could well decide the destination of the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
