Australian opener Usman Khawaja offered his piece of advice to Nathan McSweeney, who is all set to become his opening partner in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy series. Khawaja opined that McSweeney does not have to do anything different and do what he has been doing so far in domestic cricket. He believes the 25-year-old newcomer has the goods to handle the scrutiny and the pressure of Test cricket. McSweeney was slotted into Australia’s 13-member squad for the 1st Test vs India at Optus Stadium in Perth, starting November 22.
“There are no guarantees in cricket…but he doesn’t have to do anything different,” Khawaja told reporters. “Just repeat the process. He’s been able to handle the pressure at Shield level. When you look at his demeanour, the way he plays, you do kind of feel over a longer period of time he’ll be able to handle the scrutiny, the pressure of Test cricket,” he added.
McSweeney’s record in domestic
With an impressive first-class batting average of 38.16, McSweeney has already notched up six centuries and 12 fifties, accumulating 2,252 runs in the format. His prowess extends to List A cricket, where he averages 42.25, having scored 845 runs, including a century and eight fifties in just 22 matches.
Khawaja jokingly dismissed concerns about McSweeney’s strike rate (41.92), which is even lower than his own Test strike rate (48.3), and offered a glowing review of the newcomer.
“I don’t know where this myth started that you need someone to score really fast to do well. You’ve got five days to do it. I don’t know why you need to score fast,” the opener said.
“Opening’s as much about scoring runs as it is about being able to absorb. Davey was special, he could score runs while absorbing but he didn’t do it (score fast) every time. He was consistent, out there and setting a platform, and Nathan does that very well,” he added.
Australia’s squad for Perth Test
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
