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Important SN update for SouthlandIf Konstas isn’t the circuit breaker, why is he in the Test XI?
SEN • July 4th, 2025 12:29 pm
What should Aussie cricket fans expect from 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas?
After his swashbuckling MCG debut against India where he smashed 60 on Boxing Day morning, many expected the youngster to usher in a new era of Test cricket dynamism at the top of the order for the Aussies.
While Konstas pulled off his ramp shots and attacking play against Jasprit Bumrah that day, he’s yet to reach 30 in any of his next six Test innings and has put away much of that all-out attack since the India series.
SEN Cricket’s Bharat Sundaresan is one who has watched Konstas closely across his 18 First Class games and he says that slogging from the get-go isn’t normally the way the New South Welshman plays.
Having most recently made 25 off 37 balls before falling to Anderson Phillip on Day 1 of the second Test against the West Indies in Grenada, Sundaresan thinks that Konstas shouldn’t be branded as a cavalier opener as he slowly makes his way at the top level of cricket.
“All this chatter about 'Konstas is the circuit breaker' after what he did against Bumrah - this is not how he plays generally,” Sundaresan said on SEN Cricket.
“I don’t think he was brought in to be the next David Warner. He was thrown in, he tried something, and it worked. It changed the series. Does that make him the next David Warner or give him the license to play these shots?
“I don’t think he played aggressively today, I think he played loosely. He rotated the strike better today. He did what openers have been doing for years. It was loose. Nothing aggressive. He paid for it.
“To do that after 'Uz' had gone out the previous over was interesting. It’s a progress report for Konstas. Are we saying, ‘At least he got 25?'. Or are we looking at what he did in those 25?
“He was a sitting duck against Shamar Joseph last week so at least it wasn’t that.
“Is he the future? I don’t know. He will get one more go here. He was not brought here as an aggressive opener. We will learn more about what he brings to the table.
“We don’t need to characterise him as a cavalier opener yet. I think he is figuring it out.
“But few positives we saw today, we should take them.”
SEN Cricket’s Adam White agrees with Sundaresan’s take on the young opener, and given that Konstas isn’t the attacking batsman that would theoretically fit well next to Usman Khawaja, he’s not sure exactly why he’s been rushed back into the team over other options.
“I’m not 100 per cent convinced I know why he is in the team,” White said.
“It feels like they’re trying to find someone to complement Usman’s steadiness and that they want someone aggressive, but that’s not Konstas opening the batting (as an aggressor), there are better (aggressive) batsmen in Australia.
“But I want him to play the whole series. He’s good for cricket, he gets us emotional, and he is unconventional.”
Australia finished all out for 286 on Day 1 in Grenada. They’ll begin Day 2 with the ball at midnight on Saturday (AEST).
Listen to every ball of the West Indies v Australia Test series LIVE on SEN and the SEN app.
