Sam Konstas stands in the centre of the MCG on a pitch sullied only by his spike marks.
- Scorecard: Check out all the live scores and stats
- Kohli vs Konstas: Virat shirtfronts Aussie debutant
He is surrounded by humanity, tens of thousands who have come on Boxing Day to see an engrossing Test series continue but also to witness the debut of a 19-year-old from New South Wales.
Konstas sprinted to the middle for the start of play, but not before smiling his way through the national anthem. Curious at the time was his decision to take strike for Jasprit Bumrah’s first ball of the day, but only because the young man hadn’t yet had the chance to put his character on international display.
As he takes guard, a snarl on his face and “watch the ball” slipping from his lips, Konstas can not fully comprehend what he is about to create. Or, knowing what we now know about his limitless confidence, perhaps he does.
The selection of a teenage opening batter for Australia’s biggest home Test match in years gave cricket fans the chance to experience once more that childlike pre-Christmas buzz. Nobody could confidently predict what we would get, but there was electricity in the unknown and the possibility of something special.
Was Konstas going to be ready for such an occasion? Of course not. No teenager ever could be, no matter how prodigious.
But what was going to set this particular teenager apart was his self-belief, his fearlessness and his total disregard for what was expected of him.
Sam Konstas had not come to Melbourne to feel his way into Test cricket. He had come to change the game.
Sam Konstas attempted to ramp Jasprit Bumrah with his 11th ball faced in Test cricket. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
His innings, which somehow lasted only 65 balls and a little over 90 minutes, was scarcely believable. Phones across the country were lighting up, each message from every friend or family member conveying the same basic theme — “can you believe this guy?”.
The mark of a truly great athlete is their ability to make spectators feel things. That usually requires the combination of exceptional deeds on the most significant stages, but performed with a certain level of swagger and personality.
By that definition Konstas is following a rare path. How many emotions did he draw out of you on that first spellbinding morning?
Anger at his naive first attempts at ramping Bumrah, tantamount to sacrilege for the first session of a Test. Disbelief when it started to come off. Pride as he stood up to the intimidation tactics of his opponents and then sheer joy as he really hit top gear.
The way Konstas bats is provocative and evocative. He is constantly moving in every direction, and his bat flashes with a samurai’s flourish. He hits the ball like it’s a hand grenade with a pulled pin, a threat which requires immediate expulsion.
On this day, Konstas was completely captivating.
It was more than the strokeplay too, it was everything in between. When Mohammed Siraj had his say and was promptly belted to the fence, Konstas jogged down the pitch with an unbroken glare directed at the conquered quick.
He tapped the Australian crest with his bat after reaching his 50, before pointing to the name on the back of his shirt. At the height of the Konstas delirium, with Mexican waves whipping around the MCG, the kid gestured to the crowd to raise the noise a little bit more.
Sam Konstas scored an incredible debut half-century. (Getty Images: Morgan Hancock)
The young man’s spirit was also infectious for those on the field with him, as Konstas brought out the best in his teammates and the worst in his opponent.
Usman Khawaja was suddenly batting with a smile again and looked as free at the crease as he has all summer, now that freedom was smiling back at him from the other end.
And then there was Virat Kohli, who saw in Konstas something which got his pulses racing — perhaps it was a little of Virat himself.
Kohli instigated and then protested a foolish pitch-side collision, clearly infiltrating what is widely accepted as the batters’ zone after an over to try to intimidate a 19-year-old. It was unbecoming, immature and not legal by ICC regulations, but it also did not work as Konstas carried right on carting India around immediately after the clash.
As they stood near enough to toe to toe, for a very split second you could understand Kohli’s rage. As he stared at Konstas he was looking too at his own cricketing mortality, and a version of Test cricket’s future which has little room for him, or for us, or for anything we thought we knew about the game.
Konstas is not the first person to bat aggressively, borderline recklessly as a Test opener. England has turned this sort of cricket into a quasi-cult, and the impact of David Warner’s arrival in the Test team more than a decade ago should not be understated.
The fans enjoyed their time watching Sam Konstas take the attack to India. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
But this is different, isn’t it? This isn’t just a tactical shift, it’s a generational one.
Konstas gives this Australian team an injection of a very specific brand of youth, one which will drive the elder statesmen crazy on the days things go awry but could inspire a paradigm shift which directs it away from an ever-approaching end-of-the-road.
There are a lot of good cricketers in this Australian team, with plenty of ambitious and aggressive strokes left to play, but Sam Konstas is surely the only member of the side who knows who The Rizzler is. And that’s not for nothing.
The majority of cricket on day one in Melbourne did not actually involve Konstas but still it operated in his orbit. When Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne toiled immediately after lunch it felt like a snap back to a dredging reality rather than the solid, competitive Test cricket it really was.
Usman Khawaja reached his first 50 of the series on Boxing Day. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
Travis Head was bowled leaving, putting us on high alert for a “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us” situation between he and Konstas.
If the two of them ever turn it on in the same innings the universe might implode from the sheer power. Presumably Mitch Marsh has been operating under that theory all summer.
Bumrah was typically marvellous throughout, still completely and utterly carrying this bowling attack, which really only goes to make the opening Konstas salvo all the more remarkable.
India fell apart in the first session but spent the day slowly clawing its way back, and despite coughing up half-centuries to each of Australia’s top four the tourists remain firmly in this contest.
Steve Smith did a fine job of steering Australia through a mini-collapse in the middle order and will return on day two within touching distance of a second ton in as many Tests. His side, not yet conclusively on top despite early promise, needs it from him.
But this day will forever be Konstas’s, and will be spoken about in revered terms for many years no matter how the rest of his career pans out.
Even if Konstas isn’t the man who leads the next generation of Australian Test cricket, he will forever be the one who marked its arrival.
Elvis’s hips are all shook up. John and Paul want to hold your hand. Dylan’s gone electric.
Sam Konstas has just shown us the future, and there’s no turning back now.
