On Friday (December 20), Australia revealed an update to their squad, with 19-year-old Sam Konstas being brought in for the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, replacing Nathan McSweeney. Australia is set to unleash its youngest test batting debutant in more than 70 years.
Konstas smashed twin hundreds in the first round of the Sheffield Shield between New South Wales and South Australia earlier this year. Building on that, he caught the selector’s attention with another century in the two-day warm-up match in Canberra against India.
Both Australian openers are struggling in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and managed to score only 31 runs in six innings, Australia has made several changes to their squad for the last two Tests against India, including four new additions.
Along with McSweeney’s removal, star fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood has also been ruled out for the rest of the series due to an injury he picked up during the Brisbane Test, which kept him out for the last two days of that match. Australia has called Sean Abbott, Jhye Richardson, and Beau Webster to join the squad for the series’ final two games.
“You can say the way our top three are playing has been reasonably similar and we’d like the ability to throw something different at India off the back of that,” Bailey said. “If you look more broadly, I don’t necessarily think the top six has quite functioned to the level that we need in this series as a whole.
“Think Sam’s method, his style, is different to Nathan’s, different again to Beau’s and Josh’s as the other batting options within that team and we think they provide the options of a different look and a different makeup for the XI come Boxing Day”, added Bailey.
Will we see Sam Konstas (currently 19y 79d) added to this list on Boxing Day? #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/015Cx6uaOX
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 20, 2024
AUSTRALIA SQUAD FOR THE LAST 2 TESTS OF BGT 2024-25
Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head (vc), Steve Smith (VC), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
The fourth Test, a Boxing Day blockbuster, starts December 26 in Melbourne.
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
