Follow UsIn the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria in Sydney, Australia’s young sensation Sam Konstas did to Scott Boland what he did to Jasprit Bumrah on his Test debut during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 19-year-old opener reverse scooped Boland on the second delivery of the first over, but the seamer got his revenge in the very next over, dismissing Konstas for 10 off 7 deliveries.
Konstas had ramped and reverse scooped Bumrah on his way to 65-ball 60 in his maiden innings in Melbourne. Just like Boland, the ace Indian paceman also got his revenge, but in the second innings when he knocked over Konstas with a superb inswinger.
NSW openers Konstas and Nic Maddinson came out all guns blazing against Victoria, smashing 30 runs in the first two overs. Konstas first got 10 runs off Boland, including a reverse scoop over the slip cordon, before Maddinson smacked Fergus O'Neill for 20 in the second over.
The party got over pretty quickly as Konstas tried to sweep Boland and ended up getting knocked over. Meanwhile, Maddinson got out after scoring 33 off 27 balls as NSW were bundled out for 238 in 65.2 overs. In reply, Victoria were 68/3 when the stumps were drawn on day one.
"It was unexplainable really. I don't know what was going on," former NSW coach and Australian Test opener Phil Jaques said on commentary after Konstas' dismissal, reported ESPNcricinfo. "I think it (the reverse ramp) is a shot he practices a lot and he plays it pretty well in short-form cricket. He's seen a bit of a window and an opportunity when the ball is new and hard to take a bowler off his length and make a field change.
"But you're seeing him play it all the time now and he's getting out doing it, and losing that consistency of run-scoring that we've seen from Sam over a long period of time batting normally, batting patient… this kid makes hundreds and historically he hasn't made them by scooping and slogging. It's almost like he's been a bit caught up in it all.
"If he wants to be that player who dominates them [the bowlers] and gets rid of an opening bowler in their most threatening time, and he's happy to have dismissals like today, then carry on. But if you are looking to be a consistent Test batsman who averages 50 the don't know you can do that playing the way he is at the minute.
"Looking from outside and seeing Sam play a lot over the last few years…it's such a different method that we've seen for years and years in Test and first-class cricket, he's playing a different way, but it's also a different way to how he got to where he got to so it's a left of centre idea. He might prove everyone wrong. He might be consistent doing what he's doing, scoring at a rate that no one has ever done, but it just seems high risk."
Konstas made 113 runs across four innings against India at an average of 28.25 and a strike rate of 81.88. The right-hander was still dropped from Australia’s playing XI for the two-match series in Sri Lanka, forcing Konstas to return and play domestic cricket.
In a first-class game against Queensland, he could only manage scores of 3 and 22, but did smoke his maiden List A century against the same opponent last week.