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Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey on Wednesday opened up on young batting sensation Sam Konstas' performance at the Melbourne Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy and said that the 19-year-old played a 'style of cricket' which was probably "new to India".
Australia clinched a thrilling 184-run victory over India in the Melbourne Test and took a 2-1 lead in the series, also ending India's chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord's early next year. Currently, Australia lead 2-1 over India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 19-year-old Konstas was called into the squad in place of Nathan McSweeney and had an uphill task to open for Australia in front of a sell-out crowd against a proven Indian pace attack. Konstas was entertaining throughout his stay on the crease and became a popular face among Australian fans. He made the headlines with a sublime ramp shot off Bumrah in the first inning at the Melbourne Test, declaring his intent to be aggressive even against the brand-new red ball. In his 11 first-class matches Konstas has scored 718 runs at an average of 42.2, including two centuries and three half-centuries. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Carey recalled that he was a spectator during the first inning at the Melbourne Test and watched Konstas' knock with the same emotions. He added that Konstas brought a different kind of energy to the squad. "Yeah, I was a spectator that first session and I probably had the emotions, the 90-odd thousand that were there. At times I couldn't watch it, at times I was cheering, but just the energy he brought, it was something different. I probably wasn't expecting that amount of difference, but he played a style of cricket that, yeah, was probably new to India as well," Carey said. He added that the opening partnership of Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas can give a fiery start to the Aussies which was lacking earlier. "So we'll wait and see how he plays out here. I don't think that's his blueprint for every test match, but to be able to throw a few punches early, and get a bit of momentum for us, which I guess the opening partnership was probably just lacking that intensity, but I thought Nathan and Usman got us through tough situations as well. By facing lots of balls, Sam was able to score a little bit," he added. Australia set a target of 340 runs to India at the start of Day 05 of the Melbourne Test. The visitors had the whole day but couldn't make it count. Fiery spells from the Aussie bowling attack bundled out India at 155 in the 80th over. India will take on Australia in the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3. (ANI)
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