'He flustered India, there's no doubt about that' - Ravi Shastri offers bold statement on Sam Konstas

Sam Konstas came out as a pleasant surprise in a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series which was majorly lined with seasoned professionals spanning both Australia and India. His very maiden innings in international cricket was overflowing with a rare breed of audacity which the 19-year-old brought to the fore with a brisk 60-run knock. Although he did not really have as big of an impact in the subsequent three innings, he was surely one to talk about in detail once the five-match series had concluded.

Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Ravi Shastri, commended the way Konstas made his mark in the international arena. However, he advised himself to stay put on trying to score as many runs as possible more than anything else.   

“I think it was more the exuberance of youth. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof. He wanted to announce himself straight away. There was a lot of talk. He's someone who'll take the attack to the opposition. And he wanted to walk the talk. And he did that. He flustered India, there's no doubt about that, in Melbourne. But my advice to him would be, ‘you've got talent, the focus should be on scoring runs more than anything else’. You focus on your strengths. You play the way you want," shared Shastri while speaking on The ICC Review.

Also Read: Virat Kohli should have been banned for Sam Konstas episode: Steve Harmison

Don't think he can survive as a Test opening batter playing like that all the time: Shastri

The former Indian cricketer also felt that the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka would help Konstas in more than one way. 

"I think the tour of Sri Lanka in will help in many ways. Getting out of Australia, playing overseas, and then getting to learn a lot of other things and maturing. I don't think he can survive as a Test opening batter playing like that
all the time. So, he will learn a lot from the first couple of games that he played as a batter, but just as an international sportsperson as well, I think he'll learn a lot," added Shastri.

Australia have added Konstas to their 16-member squad for the Sri Lanka series in which Steve Smith will lead the side. It will be fascinating to find how Konstas deals with batting on spin-conducive decks in the island nation, if at all he is considered to open the batting over Nathan McSweeney.