At Melbourne, Sam Konstas joined the list of batters who had caught the eye on their Test debuts in the 21st century. Some of them had illustrious careers. Others, not quite.
Hamilton Masakadza, 119 v West Indies, Harare 2001
Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were both gone, but the West Indies still boasted of an attack that rolled over Zimbabwe for 131 – there was no Andy Flower either – and took a 216-run lead. Masakadza walked out at 27-1 and demonstrated surprising maturity for a teenager, looking solid in his defence and authoritative in his strokeplay. At 11 days short of his 18th birthday, he became Test cricket’s youngest debut centurion. The match was saved.
Mohammad Ashraful, 114 v Sri Lanka, SSC 2001
Masakadza’s record did not last even six weeks. In fact, Ashraful went a step further when, at 17 years 61 days, he became the youngest to score a Test hundred, on debut or otherwise. Ashraful produced an innings of such exquisite quality that he was named Player of the Match despite Sri Lanka losing only five wickets (including two retired out batters) to crush the visitors by an innings and plenty. There was little in the Test when he walked out: Bangladesh, with six wickets in hand, needed 344 to make Sri Lanka bat again. They got only 247 of those – and a significant chunk of that came from Ashraful’s 16 boundaries.
Virender Sehwag, 105 and 31 v South Africa, Bloemfontein 2001-02
A familiar story seemed to unfold when India became 68-4 on the first morning of the series on a pitch that offered plenty to the home fast bowlers. Then, as South Africa bowled with no fielder at deep-third, the youngster matched Sachin Tendulkar in putting the uppercut to great use. And once Tendulkar fell, Sehwag stepped up a gear, eventually hitting 105 in 173 balls. By the time he was done with his rapid cameo in the second innings, it was evident that India had unearthed a new talent.
Lou Vincent, 104 and 54 v Australia, Perth 2001-02
New Zealand came to Perth after a nail-biting draw at Brisbane and a rain-washed one at Hobart. Here, they put a debutant at the top of the order. They became 19-2, but that did not matter to Vincent, who dominated a full-strength Australian attack with aplomb to become the first Test debutant in 68 years to score a hundred in Australia. And after New Zealand secured a 183-run lead, Vincent was at it again, this time bludgeoning a run-a-ball fifty.
Dwayne Smith, 105 not out v South Africa, Cape Town 2003-04
Chasing 441 in a day, the West Indies seemed safe – but little more – at 224-4 with more than 37 overs remaining. But Smith demonstrated what would make him a sought-after T20 star in the years to come, launching an onslaught on the South African attack. The fifty took only 52 balls and the hundred another 51, but by then – it is not clear why – Brian Lara had “instructed to play out time” with 102 to score in 13 overs. The Test that promised so much fizzled out to a draw.
Michael Clarke, 151 v India, Bengaluru 2004-05
Since 1969-70, Australia’s only Test series win in India came in 2004-05 – and the tone of that was set by Clarke in the first Test innings of the tour. Walking out at 149-4, Clarke demonstrated decisive footwork, found the gaps with the ease of a veteran, and cleared the boundary with ease off Anil Kumble. Over the years, he would go on to amass many a colossal score against India.
Kevin Pietersen, 57 and 64 not out v Australia, Lord’s 2005
There had been buzz around Pietersen long before the debut, and many criticised the selectors for leaving out Graham Thorpe in favour of him. The England fans, cheering after Australia were shot out for 190, were left shell-shocked when Glenn McGrath left the hosts reeling at 21-5. It is at this point that Pietersen took the attack to the Australian camp: the four, six, four – all drives – off three consecutive balls from McGrath announced the arrival of a superstar. There was a fifty on a burning deck in the second innings as well, and more from him later in that historic series.
Umar Akmal, 129 and 75 v New Zealand, Dunedin 2009-10
The scores, impressive as they are, do not reflect how well Umar batted on Test debut. Throughout the Test match, the hosts – spearheaded by Shane Bond – threw everything at him, only to be thwarted by his dazzling strokes in both innings. When he fell, Pakistan needed 56 with five wickets in hand: they got only 23. On that tour, and the one in Australia that followed, Umar threatened to become the next big thing in Pakistan cricket. It was not to be.
Cheteshwar Pujara, 72 not out v Australia, Bengaluru 2010
Leading the two-match series 1-0, India managed only a 17-run lead in the first innings and were up against a target of 207. However, when Sehwag fell early, India decided against the familiarity of Rahul Dravid, a local hero to boot. Having batted at five in the first innings, Pujara strode at a position he would inherit from Dravid later in the decade, and put everyone at ease with a calm yet aggressive 89-ball 72 not out. India won by seven wickets.
Faf du Plessis, 78 and 110 not out v Australia, Adelaide 2012-13
Few debutants have demonstrated their entire range of batting gears over the course of a Test match as du Plessis. Walking out at 233-4 after Australia’s 550, he made 78 to take the tourists past the follow-on mark. By the time he emerged again at 45-4 in the fourth evening, South Africa were fighting to save the Test. Du Plessis hung around for nearly eight hours, dead-batting away most of the 376 balls he faced, and finishing with an unbeaten 110.
Shikhar Dhawan, 187 v Australia, Mohali 2012-13
When India, 2-0 up in the series, left Sehwag out at Mohali, few expected the replacement to bat at a Sehwagesque pace. Australia’s 408 looked puny not too long after Dhawan launched himself, racing to the fastest Test hundred by a debutant and not stopping before a 174-ball 187. What made the shots – especially the 33 boundaries – so remarkable is his placement, often through the tiniest of gaps: he hit 21 fours in 85 balls when he reached his hundred.
Ashton Agar, 98 v England, Trent Bridge 2013
The follow-on had been saved, but Australia still trailed by 98 when the last man, the teenage debutant left-arm spinner, joined Phil Hughes. As he drove James Anderson and Steven Finn with ease, it quickly became evident that this was no rank tail-ender. He fell two short of his hundred (while trying to clear the mid-wicket fence), but he did end up setting a new world record for a No.11. Oh, and they promoted him to eight in the second innings.
Kevin O’Brien, 40 and 118 v Pakistan, Dublin 2018
O’Brien had been playing international cricket for more than a decade when Ireland finally played a Test match. Having already etched his name in cricketing folklore with the hundred against England in the 2010 World Cup, O’Brien found himself coming out at 7-4 after Pakistan declared on 310-9. He top-scored with 40 but Ireland had to follow on, and this time he celebrated the moment with a hundred that helped Ireland avoid the innings defeat, and even hope when had Pakistan at 14-3. It was not to be, of course.
Prithvi Shaw, 134 v West Indies, Rajkot 2018-19
The world was Shaw’s oyster in 2018. As captain, he lifted the Under-19 World Cup; he impressed in his maiden IPL stint; and finally, in the longest format, he evoked memories of Lara (albeit a mirror image) with a familiar-looking backlift and off-side stroke-play while braving excruciating heat and humidity. He took 99 balls to get to the hundred, not too long after lunch on day one. Sadly, his career fizzled out.
Kyle Mayers, 40 and 210 not out v Bangladesh, Chattogram 2020-21
Few expected the West Indies to chase 395 with three debutants – Shayne Moseley, Nkrumah Bonner, and Mayers – slotted at three, four, and five. They were 59-3 when Mayers joined Bonner: by the time the latter fell, for 86, the pair had added 216, Mayers had already gone past 112, the world record fourth-innings score by a debutant, and victory was in sight. Wickets kept falling at the other end, but none of that deterred Mayers, who got to a double hundred to complete a record chase.
Devon Conway, 200 v England, Lord’s 2021
Not only did Conway make a double ton on Test debut, away from home against an attack led by Anderson and Stuart Broad, but he also made more than half his team’s total of 378. Already an accomplished T20 batter by then, Conway was judicious in his approach, taking his time but feasting on anything loose.
Kamran Ghulam, 118 v England, Multan 2024
To end Pakistan’s winless streak at home, the selectors made drastic changes to the XI for the second Test against England, including – but not restricted to – replacing the out-of-form Babar Azam. Amidst the furore, Kamran stepped out at 19-2 and put all doubts over his place to rest with a calm 118 to help Pakistan post 366, a total that turned out to be decisive on a pitch that assisted spinners as the Test match progressed.
Sam Konstas, 68 v India, Melbourne 2024-25
Debuting in the fourth Test of the series, Konstas made his intentions clear from the onset with unusual, high-risk attempts against Jasprit Bumrah, no less, early in the innings. When he finally connected, even Bumrah had no response to the scoops and reverse scoops. Konstas soon exploded in an assortment of strokes in front of the wicket as well. His innings did not decide the outcome of the Test, but it showed that there was a workaround to Bumrah.
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