Shastri calls Australian top-order 'brittle', hails 'refreshing' Konstas

Ahead of the fourth Test match former Indian allrounder and head coach Ravi Shastri termed the Australian toporder 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 MCGWith the series level at 11 both sides will be playing the muchanticipated Boxing Day Test intending to secure an allimportant series lead needed to push a case for the ICC World Test Championship finalShastri believes that Australias 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 1260 with best score of 21 Smith 124 runs in three matches at an average of 2480 with a century Labuschagne 82 runs in three matches at an average of 1640 with a fifty have failed to deliver a big challenge to the Indian bowling attack and have not put up the numbers befitting their statureI think it has been pretty brittle said Shastri to newscomau When you look at this Australian lineup it has been a long time since Ive seen an Australian lineup where the top order is that brittle India have exploited that and continue to exploit itIndia is 11 in the series and that man Bumrah has almost singlehandedly got India into that position Shastri concludedSince their last ICC World Test Championship win last year in June Khawaja 1006 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 3592 with a century and five fifties Smith 862 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 3315 with two centuries and four fifties and Labuschagne 735 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 2722 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 2407 with just one fifty in 16 inningsOut of the top sixseven batters of the Australian lineup only Travis Head 1040 runs in 15 Tests at an average of 3851 with three centuries and four fifties and Mitchell Marsh 819 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 3900 with a century and six fifties have managed to keep their batting averages in late 30sSpeaking 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 refreshingAs far as Konstas goes I think hes very refreshing Hes got flair hes got flamboyance But Test cricket is Test cricket I think his technique will tighten up and he will be the future for Australia said ShastriKonstas played a vital role in Australias ICC U19 World Cup 2024 triumph scoring 191 runs in seven innings at an average of 2728 including a century He also featured in a twomatch series between Australia A and India A ahead of the BorderGavaskar Trophy scoring 92 runs in four innings highlighted by a matchwinning 73 In the warmup pinkball game against India he stamped his authority with a classy 107 off 97 balls against a formidable Indian attackIn the ongoing Sheffield Shield season Konstas is the fifthhighest rungetter with 471 runs in five matches at an average of 5887 including two centuries and a fifty with a best score of 152Shastri also termed Nathan McSweeneys ouster after scoring just 72 runs in three Tests at an average of 1440 as unfortunate and added he could see McSweeney touring Sri Lanka next year and rebuilding his career from thereMcSweeney was very unfortunate I thought he did the hard yards but he is a middleorder batsman I see him travelling to Sri Lanka when the Australian team go there and rebuilds his career from there he saidBut 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