Melbourne [Australia], October 21 (ANI): Seasoned star Steven Smith backed the young duo of Sam Konstas and Nic Maddinson to succeed for Australia in the opening order.
With the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series approaching against India, Australia are yet to identify the player who will open alongside Usman Khawaja.
After David Warner’s retirement, Smith was promoted to the top of the order. However, after an underwhelming stint, Smith was restored to the number four spot in Australia’s Test setup.
With the top spot vacant ahead of the five Tests against India, youngsters have made a case for themselves to fill in the spot.
Konstas has been one of the emerging talents who has been pushing hard to break into the Australia Test setup. Recently, Konstas joined legends Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman to be among the youngest players to hit twin Sheffield Shield centuries.
Konstas became the third youngest player to hit Shield Cricket twin tons in the same match during his side New South Wales’ match against South Australia.
While featuring for the New South Wales against Victoria, Konstas was trapped in front of the stumps by Scott Boland for a score of 2(10). Smith was still impressed by the limited time that he had to watch the youngster showcase his charm.
“He got a bit unlucky, I reckon. It looked like it might have been just darting down the leg a little bit. I haven’t seen a lot of him. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of him out here in the middle for sure. But from what I have seen in the nets, he’s got a lot of time,” Smith said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
“He’s very organised. He plays fast bowling and spins well, from what I’ve seen in the brief couple of times I’ve seen him bat, it’s looked really good. He’s a bright prospect. We’ve got to remember he’s only 19 as well, so he’s got plenty of time. But what I’ve seen so far it looks promising. “He’s got all the makings to definitely be a really good Test player. That’s for sure. Whether it’s now or in the future, time will tell,” he added.
Smith also rooted for Maddinson to throw his name into the mix and become a possible candidate to fill in the vacant top-order spot.
“There’s a few really good candidates, guys that have done really well the last few years. [Cameron] Bancroft and the usual suspects that have been talked about. Maddo, I think, he is also another really good candidate. He’s had a good couple of years. If you’re looking for someone similar to a Davey replacement, he gets after the ball and can score really quickly,” Smith said.
“So he’s someone who probably hasn’t been spoken about a great deal from all you guys in the last little bit, but I think he’s someone that could definitely play test cricket and have a similar impact to what Davey sort of had at the top, the way he plays. So, plenty of options. We’ll wait and see,” he noted. (ANI)
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