On the night before the Boxing Day Test, Sam Konstas told his batting coach Tahmid Islam that he would only play the scoop against Jasprit Bumrah after he reached 150. But, after a number of early plays and misses against the champion fast bowler on debut at the MCG, Konstas brought forward his plans for the scoop. It hardly surprised Tahmid, Konstas' 29-year-old batting coach.
Tahmid said as much in a conversation with Bangladeshi journalists on Saturday, a chat arranged by Prime Bank Cricket Club, Tahmid's team in a short stint in the Dhaka Premier League several years ago. The news of Tahmid being Konstas' batting coach has made headlines in Bangladesh.
Tahmid, speaking via Zoom, said Konstas' instincts took over on Test debut. "We were having dinner the night before when he told me that the plan was to only scoop once he got to 150," Tahmid said. "It wasn't really part of the plan [to play the shot so early]. But he is someone that plays on instinct. He plays with a lot of freedom. He doesn't really think of the consequences of what people are going to say if he gets it wrong. I think it is his biggest skill and asset. Whereas loads of players think about the consequences like 'what if I fail doing it' or 'what if I get out playing it' or 'the media and coaching staff will have a go at me'."
"Sam is quite assured in his game. After playing and missing six times in his first ten or 12 balls, he thought that the best way to put pressure on Bumrah was to try to put him off his length. He threw a different challenge at Bumrah, which was really good for Sam. It really shell-shocked India. They weren't expecting a 19-year-old to come out and play with that sort of freedom."
Tahmid, who works with Elevate Cricket Coaching, said that he was hardly surprised by Konstas' choice of shots against a bowler of Bumrah's class.
"It isn't a surprise. The reason Australia picked him was to throw India a different challenge. Sam took on the Indian bowling attack, minus Bumrah, during his century for the Prime Minister's XI against India about three weeks ago. He played with a lot of freedom. He played the reverse-scoop. He ran down the wicket to play back over the bowler's head.
"Sam is someone who will play some shots and put people off their lengths, as opposed to the traditional approach. It was a bit of a gamble. It paid off for Australia. Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith were talking about how Sam's innings gave them the opportunity to go out and express themselves as well. It was the freedom which they probably lacked in the first three games."
Tahmid, who first took up coaching when he was playing in the Yorkshire Premier League in 2013, said that he first met Konstas when he was 14 years old, at Cranbrook School where Konstas was on a cricket scholarship. "Five years ago, I took up coaching at Cranbrook in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. That's where Sam got a scholarship to go to school. That's where we initially met. He was 14 years old. We had this really good connection from the first couple of sessions that we did in school."
Tahmid narrated the story of how he formulated a plan for his cricketing future with Konstas' father. "I was having dinner with his dad one night. We had some Greek food, which is their heritage. I put together a bit of a programme for him to try to target for the next phase of his life, which was to play Under-16s cricket in the New South Wales (NSW) system. It was where it all started for him. It was about his technical, mental and tactical game.
"As the journey evolved, we were lucky enough to have Shane Watson involved in the mindset side of things. I worked quite closely with Shane over the last few years. I worked with him in Major League Cricket (MLC) with the San Francisco Unicorns."
Konstas added power to his game in the last 18 months when, alongside Tahmid, he worked on his white-ball skills. "He was always a technically sound player growing up. He had the fundamentals of the game. He wasn't a very powerful player though," Tahmid said. "He didn't score very quickly growing up, so he focused a lot on his white-ball cricket in the last 18 months.
"He made his BBL debut two weeks ago. The focus was to make him a better T20 player. He was contracted last year but didn't play any games. That's where his white-ball game really started to develop and come along."
Tahmid said that his friendship with England batter Harry Brook helped him mould Konstas' cricket. "Someone that we use [as a reference] is Harry Brook, with whom I was lucky enough to play in Sydney. He is the No. 1 [currently No. 2] Test batter in the world. He is a fantastic all-format player, with whom I am really good friends. I get a lot of information from him, which I relay on to Sam, on how to transition between formats.
"It can be quite challenging but nowadays, you have to switch between formats. Sam plays Big Bash five or six days before the Boxing Day Test. If you don't have the ability to switch between formats, you will get left behind."
Of course Konstas also didn't just come out with the scoops, reverse-hits and ramps overnight. He has worked hard at these shots in the nets. But, Tahmid said, to execute the same shots in a high-profile match at a packed MCG takes a lot of confidence, which remains a defining feature of Konstas. "He has been doing reverse-ramps for five or six years in the nets. It doesn't happen by mistake. They need a lot of preparation to go out and execute in a game. And when you have clarity from your captain and organisation, it helps you to go out and express yourself. You don't have the fear of getting dropped.
"I think he was always a confident person. He always wanted to be the best player in the field. He used to tell me after training, 'what celebrations do you want from me when I get a century tomorrow?' That's what he told me before the Boxing Day Test too."