- Konstas, 19, made 60 in a brilliant start to his Test career.
- The teenager's style of play resonated with David Warner
David Warner praised Sam Konstas' bold approach against Jasprit Bumrah and India but questioned why a 19-year-old had to set an example in Australia's top flight.
Konstas' brilliant first innings 60 on Boxing Day set the tone for Australia's memorable Test victory, putting them 2-1 up in the series with one to play.
As original as it was, Konstas's shot also attracted many critics with his bold ramp shots and downward charging decisions.
The 34 runs he took from Bumrah in the opening session marked the most any player has ever scored against the Indian in a single spell, and acted to disrupt the quick.
The innings also created a slipstream for Usman Khawaja's first half-century of the series, while Marnus Labuschagne spoke of how it influenced his approach.
Bumrah still took nine wickets for the match, including Konstas when he beat him with a ball that slipped between bat and pad in the second innings at the MCG.
The way Sam Konstas (pictured left with Australian captain Pat Cummins, right) dismantled the Indian attack at the MCG has convinced former star David Warner.
Warner was known for his aggressiveness as an opening batsman, and says the rest of Australia's lineup should not have needed the debutant to show them how to play bravely.
Konstas' rise to the top is Australia's most striking since Phillip Hughes and Warner, whose natural tendencies were to attack.
“It was very special,” Warner said.
'People are also going to criticize him. That's the nature of the beast, that's how it's going to play.
'When someone like Bumrah bowls to you, you have to try to execute it somehow.
'What he did in the Prime Minister's XI shows he has that talent. But it also shows that he is brave.”
Bumrah still looms as Australia's biggest threat to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a win or a draw in Sydney.
Ten wickets at the SCG would put him level with Shane Warne's 40 wickets from the 2005 Ashes as the most dismissals in a series this century.
The Indian seamer has removed Khawaja five times in this series, Travis Head and Nathan McSweeney four times, and Mitch Marsh and Steve Smith three times each.
Konstas is one of the few Australian batsmen to take the fight to the world's top-ranked bowler Jasprit Bumrah during this summer's series.
His run in Melbourne also made him the only bowler in history to have 200 wickets at an average of less than 20, and his ability to move the ball both ways and with such accuracy made him so dangerous.
“(Sam was) being brave at the top of the order, but you have guys who have played 50 Tests, they could have been brave too,” Warner said.
“They could have played different shots, they could have gone out of their box and batted differently.” Smudge (Smith) tried a million different things.
“But it shouldn't take someone to come out and be brave to get that momentum to change.”
'You have experience at the top of the order, experience in that entire lineup. Travis Head took the game away from them in Adelaide with that magnificent hundred.
'It shouldn't be necessary for that guy to come and do that. “That's how the Australians played, but others can also be braver.”