Veteran Australian batsman Steve Smith praised 19-year-ol Sam Konstas for his outstanding debut innings on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test match against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Steve Smith jokingly said that he was suffering a heart attack in the viewing box when Sam Konstas was playing ramp shots against Jasprit Bumrah.
Steve Smith and Sam Konstas were the standout batsmen in Australia’s first innings total of 474. With the help of six fours and two sixes, the debutant hammered 60 off 65 balls. Smith scored his 34th Test century before being removed at 140.
“I don’t think much fazes the young kid. As we saw yesterday, he was reverse ramping Bumrah and I was having a heart attack up in the (viewing) box,” Steve Smith said in a post Day 2 presser.
Read More: WATCH: Australia’s Konstas hits Bumrah for record 18 runs in an over
“You’ve got to have some serious courage to do what he did yesterday. That first over, Bumrah beat him three or four times and bowled some really nice balls. I actually thought he (Konstas) played them really well; he played down the line and they just did too much and they beat the outside edge,” the former Australian captain added
“And then for a kid to have the confidence to start lapping and reverse lapping arguably one of the best bowlers that has played the game, shows some serious confidence and real courage,” Smith went on to add. If that’s the future, maybe it’s time for me to finish.”
