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South Australian batter Nathan McSweeney is all set to be veteran Usman Khawaja's opening partner for the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, solving the World Test Championship (WTC) title holder's highly-debated opening conundrum.
Australia included uncapped batter Nathan McSweeney as the national side announced a 13-member squad for the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against India for the opening Test of the five-match series in Perth.McSweeney won a bat-off for the opening slot among him, Sam Konstas and Australian veterans Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft during the recently concluded two-match unofficial Test series between Australia A and India A at home. He top-scored in the series with 166 runs in four innings at an average of 55.33, with best score of 88 in the first match at Mackay. The 25-year-old has some solid Sheffield Shield season numbers to back up. During the ongoing season, he is the fifth-highest run-getter with 291 runs in four innings at an average of 97.00. He has scored a century and two fifties, with the best score of 127*. In 34 first-class matches since his debut in 2018, he has scored 2,252 runs at an average of 38.16, with six centuries and 12 fifties in 67 innings. His best score is 127*. He can also deliver some useful spin bowling, having taken 18 wickets at an average of 30.88 and best figures of 4/89. Coming to limited-overs cricket, in 22 List-A games, he has scored 837 runs at an average of 42.25 in 21 innings, with one century and eight fifties. His best score is 137. He has also taken seven wickets. Nathan has some T20 experience as well, having played 18 matches and scoring 428 matches at an average of 26.75, with two half-centuries to his name. His best score is 84. He has also taken four wickets. This year, McSweeney has been on a tear in first-class cricket. In eight matches, he has scored 718 runs at an average of 51.28, with two centuries and five fifties in 16 innings. He has also represented Australia in the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup. Though the Aussies were defeated by India in the finals, he scored 211 runs in four innings for the team at an average of 70.33, with a century, a knock of 156 against Papua New Guinea. McSweeney has some T20 silverware to his name, leading the Brisbane Heat to the Big Bash League (BBL) title in the 2023/24 season in the absence of skipper Usman Khawaja. He scored 222 runs in nine matches at an average of 27.75, with a half-century and best score of 73. He scored 33 runs in the title clash against Sydney Sixers. Australia's selection chair George Bailey believed the squad is well-balanced and is predicting McSweeney to perform well if handed a debut. "Nathan has displayed the attributes we believe will equip him well for Test cricket along with a strong recent record in domestic cricket. His performances for South Australia and Australia A weighed in his favour and supports our view he is ready for the opportunity at Test level," Bailey said as quoted by the ICC. Australia squad for the first 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 Series schedule: First Test: November 22-26: Perth Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Third Test: December 14-18: Brisbane Fourth Test: December 26-30: Melbourne Fifth Test: January 3-7: Sydney. (ANI)
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