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Debutant Sam Konstas has revealed that he played without fear as he took on India's formidable pace attack, showcasing an aggressive style of batting on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, as per ICC.
Konstas, who initially struggled against Jasprit Bumrah and his fellow pacers, went on to score an impressive half-century on debut. His knock helped Australia finish the first day in a strong position at 311/6, setting the stage for an exciting contest in this crucial fourth ICC World Test Championship match. His bold approach against India's quality fast bowlers paid off as he struck six boundaries and two towering sixes, producing shots that are rarely seen during the opening hour of a Test match. Konstas' audacious scoops, ramps, and front-foot pull shots were all part of a premeditated strategy, with the 19-year-old revealing that the thought of failing on his debut never crossed his mind. "I always like to go out first and assert my dominance in a way and try to earn the crease," Konstas said, as quoted by ICC. "I told (Usman Khawaja) it was straight away I'm facing first ball and he's so good to bat with, very calm and relaxed and just time to trust my instincts and back my game," he added. "The boys and (skipper) Pat Cummins have been really good to me, just saying, be myself and I'm here for a reason because I'm scoring runs, so I felt that was the right moment today to do it and yeah, it paid off," he noted "I think it probably will look silly if I do get out, but I worked pretty hard on that (ramp) shot and I feel like it's probably a safe shot for me really," he remarked. "But I think that's the beauty about being young, it may be a bit naive but I'm just trying to put pressure back on the bowlers, that's the best way I think and I did today and it was good to get a few runs," he said. Konstas also suggested that he wouldn't alter his aggressive approach in the future and believes that many of the next generation of Test players will follow his example. "I reckon maybe 20 or 30 years ago people were probably saying defend a lot and just bat all day," Konstas said, as quoted by ICC. "But I think new generation, there are new shots and it's exciting for me obviously as I like doing that and putting pressure back on the bowlers and hopefully it pays off in the next innings," he added. While his attacking tactics might have caught some by surprise, India's assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar, stated that his side was prepared for this approach. Nayar explained that they had already witnessed Konstas in full flow during a match against the Prime Minister's XI earlier in the month, where the young right-hander scored an impressive century in Canberra. "We saw him when we played the PM XI game prior to that as well, he got a hundred against us then as well. We knew what we were up against," he said, as quoted by ICC. "It was refreshing to see someone come and play good cricket, whether that's in our team or the opposition. It's not something that surprised us, we did expect (it), and we obviously saw a lot of videos and we watched him practice as well," he added. "So we had an understanding that those are his strengths, they may be different from someone else's. It's always pleasing to the eye when it works," he noted. (ANI)
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