'New gen, new shots': Konstas heralds Test cricket's evolution

While Sam Konstas joyously admits the angst-free mindset he took into his instantly famous Test debut was rooted partly in naivety, he also believes the brashness he unfurled on Boxing Day heralds the long-format game's next age.

Konstas' arrival was not so much a star turn as it was a definitive statement.

In the view of the youngest opening bat to don a Baggy Green cap – aged 19 years and 85 days when he stormed centre stage at the MCG before more than 87,000 mostly stunned fans – his way represents the future rather than a fleeting cameo.

The audacious reverse ramps he executed in the first hour of Australian cricket's pre-eminent occasion might have been witnessed in previous Tests, but not from a teenage opener in his maiden international outing against the world's top-ranked bowler.

While he claimed to have rehearsed the stroke that once would have proved career-ending for an aspiring batter's Test hopes, he also acknowledged they were premeditated and he would have looked a touch foolish if they crashed into his stumps rather than the boundary pickets.

"It probably would look silly if I did get out, but I've worked pretty hard on that shot and I feel like it's probably a safe shot for me," Konstas said of his now-signature stroke after stumps today.

"I think that's the beauty of being young.

"It may be a bit naïve, but I'm just trying to put pressure back on the bowlers the best way I think.

"I reckon 20 or 30 years ago people were probably saying defend a lot, just bat all day.

"But I think new generation, new shots.

"It's exciting for me, I like doing that putting pressure back on the bowlers and hopefully it pays off in the next innings."

What the teenage tornado can expect in his next Test innings is an opponent forewarned if not altogether forearmed as to how they might try and mitigate such exuberance.

But while India's bowlers and coaching staff surely studied footage of Konstas' senior appearances prior to today – including two games against India A, and a one-day century for the Prime Minister's XI earlier this summer – they might have been better advised to trawl through some family home movies.

Interviewed on Fox Cricket during today's lunch break, Konstas' older brother Billy revealed the earliest inkling Australia's newest Test cricketer was something special came when he was aged just eight.

That was when the boys' father, Jim, decided to deploy a bowling machine to set a sterner challenge than his modest bowling skills could muster.

However, his unfamiliarity with the device meant he set it to 90mph (145kph) instead of the 90kph he intended which ensured the diminutive primary schooler had handled a taste of Jasprit Bumrah's pace years before Bumrah himself had achieved it for India.

Among the rules practised in games played among the Konstas family was the backyard staple 'automatic wicketkeeper', under which any mis-stroke that yielded a catch behind the wicket also meant mandatory dismissal.

As a consequence, the default shot for Sam and his brethren was studied defence rather than reverse ramps which would have ended their occupation of the crease.

That sort of extravagance is clearly best saved for the Test arena, where the 'automatic wickey' is replaced by on-field officials, a third umpire watching hawkishly in front of a TV screen and a stadium filled with euphoric fans exhorting every excess.

"It was quite surreal, the biggest crowd I've ever played in (front of)," Konstas said.

"He (Bumrah) is a legend of the game obviously, so I was trying to put a bit of pressure on him and it paid off today.

"Just get in that contest with him and take his lines away.

"Trying to keep my head still and watch it hard on to my bat.

"I got a few away today and changed the field, which was good and (got them) trying to bowl into my zones.

"I was getting used to the wicket, first time facing him and getting used to his action and he beat my bat quite a few times, but I was lucky enough to get a few away.

"It was a great contest."

And even though Bumrah had tormented Australia's top-order batters throughout the first three Tests to become the most successful India bowler to visit these shores, Konstas quite literally couldn't wait to immerse himself in that battle.

In the immediate aftermath of receiving Australia men's Test cap number 468 from former skipper Mark Taylor (who had not previously met the recipient), Konstas unambiguously flagged he was not about to be daunted by any occurrence.

Having fitted the Baggy Green to his head, he was seemingly pranked by his opening partner into breaking with tradition by making a speech in reply to Taylor's remarks.

But he ventured no further than a word with his rebuttal before bailing out, prompting Khawaja to exclaim in delight "I like him, he went straight into it".

Khawaja has cultivated a reputation as a chilled-out operator throughout his 77-Test career spanning almost 14 years (starting when Konstas had just turned six), but he might have found competition for that mantle in his eighth Australia opening partner.

No sooner had the coin landed in Pat Cummins' favour this morning than Khawaja disappeared into the MCG tunnel leading to the team dressing room, his mind immediately focused on the job at hand.

Konstas, however, spent the next minute or so introducing himself to officials who congregated near the Australia dug out and even posed for a photograph with a couple of young fans clad in replica shirts before heading to don his kit.

After the respective national anthems, during which the teenager was conspicuously placed third in the line-up after Cummins and co-vice-captain Steve Smith, he gave a thumbs up to folks in the crowd shouting congratulatory words over the fence even as he fitted his helmet.

When it was time to breach the boundary rope and head to the middle, Konstas ritually crossed himself while Khawaja glanced skywards and – by the time the senior partner looked down – he had been left in his colleague's dust.

As Konstas sprinted almost the entire way to the pitch, the gap that appeared between the disparate duo seemed to symbolically stretch all of the 19 years that separate their birth dates.

"It's a part of my routine," Konstas said, beaming broadly at the conclusion of his first day as a Test cricketer.

"I always like to go out first and assert my dominance in a way, and try and own the crease.

"But I told 'Uzzie' (Khawaja) straight away I'm facing first ball and he's so good to bat with, very calm and relaxed and just told me to trust my instincts and back my game.

"And Pat Cummins has been really good with me, just saying be myself and I'm here for a reason because I'm scoring runs.

"I felt that was the right moment to do it, and it paid off."

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