Konstas vows to be himself after mental, technical lessons

Recalled opener says his game has 'come a long way' since his stunning Boxing Day Test debut

Sam Konstas won't be trying to pvrove anything when he steps onto Kensington Oval to partner Usman Khawaja in this week's first Test, but the 19-year-old batting prodigy believes his game has come a long way since his whirlwind debut on Boxing Day.

Konstas has gone to work on both mental and technical aspects over the past six months as he looks the shake the 'reckless' tag that came following his takedown of Jasprit Bumrah at the MCG, where he admits he got caught up in the emotions of debuting in front of more than 80,000 fans in one of the biggest Tests on the calendar.

The right-hander is a confirmed starter to face West Indies (from 12am AEST, Thursday) with selectors announcing he and Josh Inglis would return to the side for the Barbados series opener with Marnus Labuschagne omitted and Steve Smith out with a dislocated finger.

"There were quite a few lessons," he said of his debut while speaking to cricket.com.au in London ahead of Australia's three-Test tour of the Caribbean.

"One was my mental side, that was my first time playing in front of a big crowd at the MCG (so I've worked on) trying to control my emotions better.

"The second thing would be technical. I've been working on a few things with my front foot, opening it up slightly to get better access.

"It just (helps) work on my defence as I felt there's maybe a slight weakness in that.

"Those are the two things I'm working on and hopefully holds me in a good stead for the next few games."

After narrowly missing the XI for the World Test Championship final when Labuschagne was promoted to open, Konstas now has almost a week to prepare for what will be his third Test appearance after selectors made the unusual call of announcing the two changes before Australia had even hit the training track in Barbados.

The southern Sydney product, who had his Test cap No.468 tattooed on his forearm just weeks after his debut, said controlling his breathing and forging strong relationships with his batting partners had been a key focus leading into his second overseas tour.

He also keeps notes in an old school written diary to help him reflect on each training session and match and ensure he is hitting his checkpoints.

"It was good reflecting and having a bit of time off to try to strengthen my game up," Konstas added in Barbados after his Test return was announced on Thursday evening local time.

"I'm just trying to control my breath and have a good relationship with my batting partner to talk about things and how to go through, especially heated moments, when the game changes.

"I chat to (Khawaja) all the time on and off the field, whenever we train, I always try to get advice from 'Uzzie', Marnus or Smith just seeing how they go about it.

"I trust people that I work with, and they understand my game; I'm not trying to prove to anyone how I'm going to play.

"I just want to be myself and understand when to take on the game and when to soak up the pressure to win games to Australia.

"I've been trying to focus on a few key areas with my batting coach, and I feel like I've come a long way, so hopefully I can display that the next few Test matches."

The experience of a second overseas tour – having begun the Sri Lanka tour before leaving early to finish the Sheffield Shield season with NSW when Travis Head was preferred as opener in spinning conditions – has Konstas feeling more comfortable around an Aussie group still containing several of his idols given his age.

"It's been good training with the whole group and getting to know everyone a lot more," he said.

"Obviously it's a tough team to crack into as we've got legends of the game in that team.

"For me, hopefully I grab my opportunity because it's such a strong side and I'm very grateful for that.

"Nineteen years old playing for your country, travelling the world, getting to experience different cultures and (playing) against the best players as well, I'm very lucky to be where I am."