Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed that the 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas will make his debut in the upcoming Boxing Day Test against India. He will become the fourth youngest Test player for Australia at the age of 19 years and 85 days with only Ian Craig, Pat Cummins, and Tom Garrett making their respective Test debuts at a younger age than him.
One of Australia's selectors, Tony Dodemaide told Konstas about his confirmed debut today morning, however, McDonald stopped short of confirming the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test. "We said from the get go, when leading into the summer, that we wouldn't shy away, and age was no barrier. And what he's shown is an array of shots, the ability to put pressure back on to opponents and he gets his opportunity. We're really excited for him," the Aussie head coach said.
Meanwhile, Australia are sweating over Travis Head's fitness ahead of the fourth Test. He suffered a minor quad strain, the injury which the the batter himself and captain Pat Cummins shrugged off after the third Test in Brisbane expressing confidence that he would be fit in time for the fourth Test.
He didn't attend Monday's optional training session but batted a bit today and did some running and fielding. He will have to undergo a fitness test before the match. However, McDonald is confident that the southpaw will be able to play the fourth Test.
"Has he got some things to work through? Yeah, he has. So that's what you would have seen. There's no concern at the moment. Has he been officially ticked off? I'm not sure. I didn't see the sort of back-end of his training session there, but I'm pretty confident he'll play. I think he looked good with the bat in hand so obviously skills are in good order. Yeah, it'll just be basically what risk is associated with that. He had a small strain to the quad.
"But no concerns from my end. He's been able to be running, yeah, so I think he'll be fully functional come the game time," McDonald added.
Australia are set to make at least two changes to their playing XI with Konstas replacing Nathan McSweeney and injured Josh Hazlewood making way for Scott Boland.
