Teen sensation Sam Konstas says he is up for the challenge of playing Test cricket this summer, believing he is in the right headspace to debut for Australia.
Konstas catapulted back into the public spotlight on Sunday when he smashed a 90-ball century against a Test-level Indian attack for the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra.
The runs showed the 19-year-old is clearly a step above, with only one other batsman in the PM's XI top or middle order passing five runs.
Konstas has been the talk of the summer since October, when he became the youngest player to score twin tons in a Sheffield Shield match since Ricky Ponting.
The right-hander's runs dried up somewhat after that, before he hit an unbeaten 73 for Australia A against India A at the MCG last month.
Nathan McSweeney ultimately won the race to start the Test summer as Usman Khawaja's opening partner, but Australia's side is far from set in stone.
Konstas will face his next toughest test in the Shield this week, against a Western Australian attack expected to feature Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Joel Pairs.
Teenage debutants are rare for Australia, with Ashton Agar the last male to do so in 2013.
Asked if he felt he needed more time scoring runs in domestic cricket rather than getting an immediate call up, Konstas said it was a case of the latter.
"I really want the chance, I love being challenged and hopefully that can happen soon," Konstas said.
"I feel like I’m in a good headspace. It’s been the best few months I’ve had, and hopefully one day I can represent my country.
"For me, it’s focusing about Friday and then trying to score runs to put myself forward. It would be a huge honour to represent my country one day."
Konstas has already earned plenty of plaudits on his rise this summer.
His mentor Shane Watson, potential Sydney Thunder opening partner David Warner and Steve Smith are among those to congratulate him on his runs.
But blocking out the hype has been easy for Konstas.
The U19s World Cup winner spent most of his teens without social media, only signing up to it in recent months in order to promote sponsors.
He is also a keen meditator before games, and moves quickly to the wicket in a statement of intent at the start of his innings.
"I don't get too fazed about (the hype)," Konstas said.
"It’s about being in the present and being the best version of myself, and then hopefully let the result take care of itself."
Likewise, Konstas said he had not been too down about missing out on Test selection for the start of the summer.
"I feel like it’s all part of the journey," he said.
"Unfortunately I didn’t get the runs that I would have liked.
"But I’ve been reflecting on how I could have done better and challenging how they got me out and tactics they used."
