Paine encourages Konstas to 'play the way he sees it' against India A

Australia A head coach Tim Paine expressed that young opener Sam Konstas will be encouraged to "play the way he sees it" following a disastrous Test outing against West Indies in June-July. Konstas, who rose to prominence by attacking Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah with some audacious ramp shots during his entertaining half-century at the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne last year, fizzled out during the West Indies tour, managing just 50 runs in six innings with the best score of 25.

Konstas' quest for a spot in the Ashes series and saving his Test spot starts this week as he plays India A in Lucknow from Tuesday onwards. The second match of this series would be crucial, with Indian regular Mohammed Siraj, who had a rampaging tour of England, expected to play. After this, some Sheffield Shield cricket in October at home will be his final Test before the Perth Ashes Test starts from November 21. Paine, the former Aussie captain who has been coaching Australia A, has not asked Konstas to play at any particular tempo.

"I think at times you will see some of his more aggressive side, but I think people forget that Sam is still only 19 years of age. So he is a long way from being the finished product," said Paine to reporters in Lucknow. "Clearly in Australia we know he has got a lot of talent. We think he is going to be a star at international cricket at some stage. He is obviously in the team, or was in the team, at the moment. But he is still finding his way, and what's the best way for him to play."

"At times, he is going to be super aggressive. Other times, he will trust his defence. He is working that out and figuring out when and why he needs to do it both. We will encourage him in this series to play it as he sees it," concluded Paine. Paine said that there will be times that Konstas will have to "soak up pressure" but "when he is feeling good and on top", he will be backed to go hard and put opposition under pressure with his hitting.

"He is exciting. You do not know what you're going to get sometimes, but that is a great part of watching him," Paine added. Konstas scored a fine century during New South Wales (NSW) pre-season match, and his state coach Greg Shipperd, who mentored him early during his career, has seen some good signs in how Konstas has responded from the Caribbean setback.

In 20 first-class matches, Konstas has scored 1,062 runs at an average of 30.34, with two centuries and six fifties, with a best score of 152. "I have to concur with Usman Khawaja's recent story about how difficult the wickets were over there (in West Indies)," Shipperd said.

"You were able to see that as well, how difficult it was. I think he may have got stuck into a process of not moving his feet as much as we would like him to in terms of responding to what's delivered his way and which we have seen him concentrate and focus on in his time in preparation here." "The work ethic is fantastic. I think he has got a lot more clarity about how he wants to go about his cricket, and his preparation has been first-class. A hundred out here the other day was a good signal to the adjustments that he's made out of the West Indies, so I am really confident that he will score some heavy runs for us in that first four or so games before that international series begins," added the coach.

While Konstas will be having a lot of attention on him, the Australia A squad also has Nathan McSweeney, who had opened during the India series as well as at home to mixed results and a highly-rated Victoria left-hander Campbell Kellaway. "Certainly the guy sitting next to me [McSweeney] is right on the cusp," Paine said.

"If he does well here and scores runs at the start of the Shield year, which is not too far away, then there are certainly some positions in that Test team that come late November that are up for grabs. There is a couple here and there, and there's a couple back in Australia that if they start well, they are going to be right in the mix," he concluded. Australia A four-day squad: Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott. (ANI)

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