Australia’s debutant opener has lit up the MCG with his astonishing strokeplay on debut scoring a fearless 60 to rattle India’s attack in the fourth Test

The first attempt by Sam Konstas at a ramp shot did not go well. In the windy heat of the MCG on Boxing Day, a swing and a miss was met with a wry grin from Jasprit Bumrah. At the non-striker’s end, Usman Khawaja – 38 a week ago – cracked a smile.

When Konstas failed to connect on a second try minutes later, the writing was on the wall. In a critical moment of a Test series that will define this generation of Australian players, selectors had taken a risk. Konstas had just turned 19, and had played just 11 first class matches. The stakes could not get higher, the spotlight no brighter.