We need to throw 'something different' at India behind Konstas' call

Australian selection chairman George Bailey has revealed it was the need to “throw something different” at India's dominant bowlers that led to the decision to install teenager Sam Konstas without a cap at the expense of Nathan McSweeney.

While there is no guarantee that Konstas will make his debut at the MCG on Boxing Day against India, Bailey admitted that Australia's top three batters have shown a certain similarity in approach over the first three Tests and that it was time for that to change to insert.

India's batting approach against the new ball is underlined by their strike rate of 59 against the first 20 deliveries in all Test innings this year, second only to England's 'Bazballers' who struck on 66.

Their top three openers KL Rahul (50), Yashasvi Jaiswal (55.9) and first-drop Shubman Gill (71.4) all have a strike rate of 50 runs per 100 balls played or more in this series, even as the visitors have encountered similar problems at the start of their innings.

In contrast, Australian premier trio Usman Khawaja (strike rate 46.3), McSweeney (33.9) and Marnus Labuschagne (33.2) have battled to get the scoreboard moving.

And if Australia's top three can't hold on for any length of time despite the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah, it seems the hope is at least that pressure will be put on them rather than the hosts' batters simply fighting for to survive.

“You can say the way our top three have played is quite similar and based on that we would like to throw something different at India,” Bailey said today.

“If you look more broadly, I don't think the top six have necessarily performed at the level we need in this series as a whole.

“I think Sam's method and style is different from Nathan's if we go that route.

“And different from Beau (Webster) and Josh (Inglis) as the other hitting options within that (squad).

“We think they will provide a different look and composition for next eleven Boxing Day.”

Bailey said there had been “preliminary discussions” within the Australian team's hierarchy about who could fill the now vacant opening role alongside Khawaja, and that he would not rule out moving a middle-order batsman to the top of the order .

As the only century makers for Australia in this NRMA Insurance Test series in their current roles at numbers four and five, Steve Smith and Travis Head seem unlikely to be subject to a change.

Promoting Labuschagne from number three would only create the need to then fill a gap at the first drop, and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has struggled of late with four consecutive single-figure scores from as many Test innings.

Should the selectors therefore opt not to field the 19-year-old Konstas in his first Test against the firepower of Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, their other option could be to elevate relief batsman Josh Inglis to opener in what is an equally courageous call would be.

Inglis has not previously opened the batting at first-class level, but has filled the role for Australia in the ODI and T20 formats, as well as Western Australia and Perth Scorchers in domestic competitions.

Bailey confirmed that both Konstas and Inglis, as well as pace bowler Sean Abbott, will feature for their respective BBL clubs in the coming days before the Australia Test squad meets in Melbourne early next week.

Back-up all-rounder Webster has also made several BBL appearances for Melbourne Stars in recent days, and although he has a Sheffield Shield century as an opener for Tasmania in 2017-18, he has not filled that role against a red ball in five years .

Rather, it appears that his retention in the 15-man Test squad, as well as the recall of Abbott and fellow quick Jhye Richardson whose most recent Test appearance came in the 2021-2022 Ashes, is due to the three-day turnaround between matches Melbourne and Sydney.

Despite Australia losing the services of new ball bowler Josh Hazlewood to a calf injury during the Brisbane Test, and sending Marsh for just two overs for the match, Bailey dismissed concerns that Marsh could fill another similar bowling breach.

However, the reason Australia has named an extended squad for the two remaining Tests is to cover any contingencies should further fitness issues arise due to back-to-back scheduling.

“I think if there had been a bit better weather at the end of that (Brisbane) Test and a lot more overs in the second innings, you would have seen Mitch (Marsh) with the ball a lot more,” Bailey said.

“Mitch was, I would say, as well placed as he had been throughout the series (to bowl).

“But looking ahead, Melbourne-Sydney is clearly a quick turnaround.

“So we're just cognizant of that and we're making sure we have options between those two tests.”

Bailey acknowledged it was a tough decision to take on McSweeney after stepping into the unfamiliar role of opener for his first series, returning 72 runs at an average of 14.4 from his six Test innings.

It means that since the retirement of David Warner after last summer's final Test against Pakistan at the SCG, Australia have deployed non-specialist openers Smith and McSweeney alongside Khawaja for a combined return of 243 runs from 14 innings at an average of 22.

But Bailey said the selection panel was behind the decision to elevate the South Australia captain, who had only started at first-class level just before the first Test of the summer, adding that his omission does not mean the end of his time as a test. player.

“Leading into the (Test) series he (McSweeney) performed incredibly well,” Bailey said.

“The key to that was the fact that his methodology and the way he plays, in our view, doesn't change much wherever he goes in the order.

“It hasn't gone quite the way you would want it to, but it's still the beginning of his career.

“It's a difficult decision, a very difficult decision for Nathan and one that we have spent a lot of time thinking about, especially after a small sample size of three tests.

“Nathan was disappointed and the message to him was much the same as at the start of the series.

“We believe he has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level.

“We are confident he will come back.”

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series vs India

First test: India won by 295 runs

Second test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third test: Match drawn

Fourth test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australian selection: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc , Beau Webster

Indian selection: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep , Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal