Cricket Australia has confirmed that the young Sam Konstas will make his head in the Boxing Day Test starting in Melbourne on December 26. At 19 years and 45 days old, Konstas will become the fourth youngest Australian player to debut in Test cricket. Only Ian Craig, current Australian captain Pat Cummins, and Tom Garrett made their debuts at an age younger than his. The good news was conveyed to Konstas by Australia's selector on duty Tony Dodemaide on Tuesday morning but advised him to wait till Christmas Day for an official announcement of the rest of the XI after the closure of Cummins' pre-match press conference.

See also: Tanush Kotian added to India's squad for Border Gavaskar Trophy

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald excited to see him in action

Konstas' MCG debut was officially confirmed in a press conference attended by Australian head coach Andrew McDonald post-training on Tuesday. McDonald heaped countless praise on the youngster and believes that he has a wide range of shots in his armory to tackle the impending threat from a quality Indian pace attack. 

"We said from the get go, when leading into the summer, that we wouldn't shy away, and age was no barrier. And what he's shown is an array of shots, the ability to put pressure back on to opponents and he gets his opportunity. We're really excited for him."

Furthermore, McDonald stated that age was never seen as a consideration and indicated that his selection was purely based on merit. The NSW-born Konstas offered promising glimpses of his true batting exploits when he slammed a defiant 107 off 97 in a two-day practice game against India in Canberra. 

Worrying signs for Head and Australia ahead of the MCG Test 

Things haven't been progressing all that well for the star Australian batter Travis Head since his minor quad strain while batting in Australia's second innings in Brisbane. Very recently, Head was seen in action on Tuesday when he took part in some running and fielding drills and also practiced his batting in the nets. 

The Australian head coach confirms that there is some worry surrounding Head's fitness but remains confident of his recovery before the Boxing Day Test. 

"Has he got some things to work through? Yeah, he has, so that's what you would have seen. There's no concern at the moment. Has he been officially ticked off? I'm not sure. I didn't see the sort of back-end of his training session there, but I'm pretty confident he'll play. I think he looked good with the bat in hand so obviously skills are in good order. It'll just be basically what risk is associated with that. He had a small strain on the quad. But no concerns from my end. He's been able to be running, so I think he'll be fully functional come the game time."

Later after the end of his grueling training session on Tuesday, Head engaged in a lengthy debate with McDonald and Australia's physio Nick Jones with the latter reportedly rubbishing concerns surrounding his quad strain injury. In addition, McDonald also confirmed two more changes leading into the fourth Test with Konstas replacing Nathan McSweeney and Scott Boland replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood.