Team India and Australia are all ready to face each other in the Boxing Day Test. The fourth Test will start on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Australia has announced their playing XI for the Melbourne Test, confirming that Sam Konstas will be making his debut in the Boxing Day Test. Konstas will be replacing Nathan McSweeney for the opening slot, and Josh Hazelwood has been replaced by Scott Boland in the team.
The Australian skipper Pat Cummins has some pieces of advice for the young debutant Sam Konstas. He stated that he was in the same position as Konstas is now at the moment, very excited. He just wants Konstas to enjoy the game and play.
"It was pretty awesome. I spent a bit of the time wondering why, or how, I was there and how it happened so quickly. I just remember being really excited."
"I think it is similar to Sammy (Konstas) this week. There is a level of naivety that you just want to go out and play like you do when you are a kid in the backyard. You just want to take the game on, have fun, and not overthink it."
"That is the message to Sam. That is definitely how I felt as an 18-year-old. I was just really excited, and once the game started, you go into game mode, and it's just like any other game."
Further, he recalled his old days when he was young. He jokingly said that the selectors were at fault for picking him up in the team.
"I remember as an 18-year-old I was thinking, I have got a lot more leeway because I was young—almost publicly—so I almost felt like, if I did not have a great game, it was not my fault—it was the selectors fault for picking me."
"I was like, well, they're the idiots that picked an 18-year-old. You are so young starting out your career—it is Boxing Day; it does not get any better than this. So just enjoy the moment."
Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.