Ponting backs Konstas, hopes Australia don’t change opening duo against Sri Lanka

Ricky Ponting wouldn’t be pushing Travis Head to the top of Australia’s order for the upcoming two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

While the left-hander has been Australia’s best bat in recent years as a No. 5, his record in Asia isn’t near as strong as it is across the rest of the world as he’s yet to make a Test ton from 10 matches in the continent.

Those mediocre returns and an injury to David Warner presented Head an opportunity to open the last time Australia toured India in 2023, and many expect him to complete that role again as his form and output improved at the top.

While Head himself is also open to slotting in alongside Usman Khawaja, Ponting wouldn’t be shifting the South Australian up the order, mainly because he wants to give teenager Sam Konstas an opportunity in foreign conditions with an eye towards the future.

“I think Australia's selections are gonna be quite interesting,” Ponting told SENQ Breakfast.

“There's been a bit of talk about maybe Travis Head going to the back to the top of the order over in the subcontinent, as he did on the last Indian tour, but I personally wouldn’t do that.

“I think Khawaja needs to play because he needs to get back into some sort of rhythm of making Test match runs, and I think his play of spin the last couple of years has really improved, so I’d leave him there. 

“I wouldn't be moving Konstas either. I think it's a great opportunity for this Australian team to blood these young blokes, especially on a tour like this to Sri Lanka, which is so different, it's going be so foreign to probably anything that he's ever done before in his life. 

“Someone like Cooper Connolly could find himself in the side as a 7 or 8 batsman that can bowl some left-arm spin, which would also be a bit of a breath of fresh air in blooding youngsters for the future.”

Having come into Test cricket in a whirlwind against India, Ponting thinks that this Sri Lanka tour presents Konstas with the perfect opportunity to get away from the spotlight and work on his craft as a budding international cricketer.

“I'd be trying to educate him that way,” Ponting said.

“I think it'd be a great tour for him as well to just get away from the buzz, spotlight and media attention that he has had here in Australia,

“It’ll be good for him to get away from it all and learn what it's actually like to be an international cricketer on the road in really tough, challenging foreign conditions.”

The first of two Tests between Australia and Sri Lanka begins in Galle on Wednesday afternoon (AEDT). Listen to every ball of the series LIVE on SEN and the SEN app.