Sam Konstas issues open challenge to Jasprit Bumrah before Australia debut vs India

The latest inclusion in Australia's Test squad Sam Konstas does not seem too worried on the prospect of facing India's bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Before the match, the 19-year-old played mind games by claiming that he already has plans for Bumrah and is not too worried about facing him on his Test debut. Sam Konstas was included in Australia's squad for the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

He replaced Nathan McSweeney in the squad, who played the first three Tests but couldn't make a significant contribution. McSweeney found it extremely tough to face Bumrah in testing conditions with the new ball and was finally replaced by Konstas.

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Sam Konstas plays mind games

During a press conference ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Sam Konstas was asked about facing the world's best bowler at the moment, Jasprit Bumrah. Konstas accepted Bumrah to be the best in the world but claims to have plans to counter him.

"I have my plans against Bumrah, but of course, I am not going to say what it is. I am generally going to put pressure back on the bowler. Jasprit Bumrah is the best in the world but they are all good bowlers," Konstas stated.

The youngster has been compared to Shane Watson because of his attacking style at the top order. Konstas noted that the styles of both of them are the same since they like to take the game on with their aggressive style of batting.

"I am quite familiar with Shane Watson. I like to take the game on and put pressure on the bowlers. Shane Watson is a legend of the game, hope I get to do the same this week," he added.

"It's just another day for me" - Sam Konstas on his potential debut

Further speaking on his potential debut, Sam Konstas called the upcoming Test at Melbourne as a special one since his parents are coming to watch his potential debut. He is backing himself to do well on the big occasion.

"It's just another day for me. A bit special because my parents are coming. But its pretty simple, I am going to just back myself," the 19-year opener said.

Konstas had previously claimed that he doesn't want to overthink about Jasprit Bumrah and does not watch his videos too much. The youngster aims to keep things simple and back his methods to counter the opposition.

Sam Konstas first-class numbers

Sam Konstas doesn't have a huge amount of experience in first-class cricket but has already shown his capabilities in the limited matches he has played so far. He has scored 718 runs in 11 first-class games so far at an average of 42.23.

Recently, he scored a quickfire hundred for the Prime Minister's XI against India in the pink-ball warm-up game at Canberra. He scored these runs against all the Indian bowlers except Jasprit Bumrah, who didn't feature in that game.