Shastri terms Australian top-order as "brittle", hails "refreshing" Konstas

Melbourne [Australia], December 25 : Ahead of the fourth Test match, former Indian all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri termed the Australian top-order as "brittle" and pointed out how India, particularly pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has "exploited it" to keep the series alive heading to Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
With the series level at 1-1, both sides will be playing the much-anticipated Boxing Day Test intending to secure an all-important series lead needed to push a case for the ICC World Test Championship final.
Shastri believes that Australia's underperforming top order consisting of seniors like Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne has been "brittle". So far in this series, Khawaja (63 runs in three Tests at an average of 12.60 with best score of 21), Smith (124 runs in three matches at an average of 24.80 with a century), Labuschagne (82 runs in three matches at an average of 16.40 with a fifty) have failed to deliver a big challenge to the Indian bowling attack and have not put up the numbers befitting their stature.
"I think it has been pretty brittle," said Shastri to news.com.au
"When you look at this Australian line-up, it has been a long time since I've seen an Australian line-up where the top order is that brittle. India have exploited that and continue to exploit it."
"India is 1-1 in the series and that man (Bumrah) has almost single-handedly got India into that position," Shastri concluded.
Since their last ICC World Test Championship win last year in June, Khawaja (1,006 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 35.92 with a century and five fifties), Smith (862 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 33.15 with two centuries and four fifties) and Labuschagne (735 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 27.22 with a century and six fifties) have delivered underwhelming numbers, with Khawaja experiencing a steep decline in his average because of a poor 2024, in which he has made 337 runs in eight Tests at an average 24.07 with just one fifty in 16 innings.
Out of the top six-seven batters of the Australian line-up, only Travis Head (1,040 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 38.51, with three centuries and four fifties) and Mitchell Marsh (819 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 39.00 with a century and six fifties) have managed to keep their batting averages in late 30s.
Speaking about Sam Konstas, who will be opening with Khawaja during the Boxing Day Test, Shastri hailed him as the "future of Australian cricket" and someone who is "flamboyant and refreshing".
"As far as Konstas goes, I think he's very refreshing. He's got flair, he's got flamboyance. But Test cricket is Test cricket. I think his technique will tighten up and he will be the future for Australia," said Shastri.
Konstas played a vital role in Australia's ICC U19 World Cup 2024 triumph, scoring 191 runs in seven innings at an average of 27.28, including a century. He also featured in a two-match series between Australia A and India A ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring 92 runs in four innings, highlighted by a match-winning 73*. In the warm-up pink-ball game against India, he stamped his authority with a classy 107 off 97 balls against a formidable Indian attack.
In the ongoing Sheffield Shield season, Konstas is the fifth-highest run-getter with 471 runs in five matches at an average of 58.87, including two centuries and a fifty, with a best score of 152.
Shastri also termed Nathan McSweeney's ouster after scoring just 72 runs in three Tests at an average of 14.40 as "unfortunate" and added he could see McSweeney touring Sri Lanka next year and "rebuilding" his career from there.
"McSweeney was very unfortunate. I thought he did the hard yards but he is a middle-order batsman. I see him travelling to Sri Lanka when the Australian team go there and rebuilds his career from there," he said.
"But I think it is a good move getting Konstas in because you need someone who can take the attack to the Indian team, because the punches were coming from nowhere," he concluded.
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India's squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian.