Australian great Brad Haddin calls for Sam Konstas to be ‘sent home’ if he’s not selected for second Test
Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has called on selectors to send Sam Konstas home from Sri Lanka if he isn’t picked for the second Test.
Konstas, 19, was controversially dropped as opener for the first Test despite making an instant impression in his first two Tests against India on home soil.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Selectors instead opted to promote Travis Head up the order and hand a debut to Josh Inglis.
The move paid dividends, with Head blasting a quickfire 50 to get the Aussies off to the ideal start before Inglis smashed a century on debut.
But given the ease in which Australia dominated Sri Lanka, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference to the end result who opened the batting.
Konstas is widely tipped to return to the starting XI for the World Test Championship final against South Africa in June, but that means he won’t play much cricket between now and then.
That’s why Haddin wants Konstas to return to Australia and play in the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales.
“We’ve got to remember he’s 19 so if they’re not using him for the second Test I would send him home to play state cricket, he hasn’t played a lot and the more he plays the better,” Haddin told News Corp.
“He would’ve had a good couple of weeks over there learning, so if he’s not going to be needed, send him back home to bat.
“We’ve seen how well Travis Head and Uzzie (Khawaja) played at the top of the order, (but) I think he (Konstas) will come straight back in for the Test Championship.
“He’s come out of nowhere in the last six months because he’s such a high-quality player and is still learning the game.
“He’s only a 19-year-old boy, the world is in front of him, we’re going to see a very good player for a very long time.”
Australia had been impressed by Konstas’s response to being dropped for the series opener.
“There’s a lot to like and be impressed about Sam,” selector Tony Dodemaide said last week.
“One of the things is his ability to take things in his stride. It’s remarkable really, whether it’s playing in front of 90,000 and Jasprit Bumrah at the MCG or getting told that you’re left out of the Test.
“He was like, ‘Oh yeah, mate, no stress. I get it’.”
Konstas was also forced to isolate from teammates during the first Test after picking up a stomach bug, but Australia were confident the illness was not serious.
The second Test from Galle begins on Thursday and is live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport.
