'Back myself, be fearless': Konstas lives by mantra in first hit

Sam Konstas was a few balls into his first net session in Australian kit when he flipped his hands over the handle of his Kookaburra bat to reverse-ramp a throwdown from Marnus Labuschagne in the MCG nets.

"Bowled, Bumrah!" Konstas said, in jest of course, as he picked up the ball up to underarm back to Labuschagne.

The quip says plenty about the 19-year-old poised to be given what is presently cricket's toughest task; facing up to Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball on a seaming pitch. That it will come on the biggest occasion on the Australian cricket calendar, the Boxing Day Test, only adds to the story.

"What I will say is if he gets the chance to play, turn the stumps mics up (when he is) at short leg because he's got some good 'bants'," his New South Wales teammate Sean Abbott laughed. "He's a funny young kid and I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes about it."

It was at the MCG in a less scrutinised October Sheffield Shield game where Abbott and another new Test squad-mate, Mitchell Starc, got their first taste of Konstas' wit. 

"Just getting into blokes about being scared, as I would have been as well if Starcy was bowling fast thunderbolts, quite short," Abbott said of Konstas short-leg banter in NSW's defeat to Victoria.

"It wouldn't matter if it's Rohit (Sharma) or me batting there, he'd be exactly the same. We'll be in for some entertainment."

Konstas' first net session on Monday since his call-up was certainly that – despite it lasting for only around 15 minutes.

It was a glimpse of the talent that has the teenager in line to become the youngest batter to debut for Australia's men's Test team in almost 72 years, and youngest overall since now Test skipper Pat Cummins. 

When he was done, Konstas reciprocated the throwdowns to Labuschagne in the team's low-key hit-out three days out from Boxing Day. They will bat for longer during the team's main session on Tuesday.

Whether Konstas is as adventurous against Bumrah as he was in the nets remains to be seen. His runs at first-class level have certainly come in a more measured manner.  

But his inclusion at the expense of Nathan McSweeney, who has been among Konstas' well-wishers in recent days, marks a clear shift in approach for Australia after an acknowledgement their top-order's strategy to wear the Indian quicks down has not been wholly successful. 

The first question the composed Konstas was asked at his press conference on Monday was whether he had been watching videos of Bumrah. Later, he was pressed on if he had a plan for Test cricket's No.1 ranked bowler.

"I do. I'm not going to say what it is," he said. In the same breath, he said his outlook would involve "just trying to put pressure back on the bowlers."

It seems Konstas will need no encouragement to go after the new ball to a greater degree than McSweeney, who left around 40 per cent of the balls he faced against India and whose strike-rate from six innings was 33.96. 

In his 11 first-class matches, Konstas strikes at 51.76. 

It hardly makes him a slogger. So too should his ability to hit the record fastest half-century for the Sydney Thunder last week necessarily be expected to be carried over to the longest format, especially given McSweeney proved equally effective batting in the KFC BBL days after his Test axing.

Yet there is an expectation Konstas will not die wondering against against Bumrah and co.

His approach is different from the one taken by Usman Khawaja, whose strike-rate hovers around 45 since his return to the Test team three years ago. The contrasts between the pair do not end there.

Konstas and Khawaja caught up on Sunday after the squad assembled in Melbourne. If Konstas gets the nod for the fourth Test against India, the duo will have one of the largest age disparities for a pair of openers in Test history. Khawaja, who turned 38 during the Gabba Test, is twice Konstas' age. 

It is one of a few adjustments Konstas will have to make when he makes the step up to Test level. An ordinary Boxing Day, he said, revolves around backyard cricket and "a lot of food".

"Greek family, so my grandma's probably cooking," he said.

He expected his close relatives to fly to Melbourne for the Australian team's traditional Christmas Day family function. Konstas noted his new Aussie teammates already felt "like a family".

He will have no shortage of sage advice to draw on if he receives his Baggy Green this week. Shane Watson, Konstas' main mentor whose wife Lee is his manager, kept his message to him simple.

"'Just another day at it'," Konstas recounted Watson telling him after his call-up. "'Back myself and be fearless'."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal