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Over 24 hours, it has become quite evident that Nathan McSweeney has usurped the other contenders to become Australia’s leading choice to open alongside Usman Khawaja in the first Test against India. The South Australian top-order batter showed his prowess with an unbeaten 88 to guide Australia A to a dominant win against India A in Mackay.
While the 25-year-old has never previously opened for his state, he averages 97, batting at No.3 for South Australia this year. Needing 86 runs, the right-hander came out all guns blazing, adding 41 runs to his overnight score of 47* to strengthen his case for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins also hinted that they wouldn’t be scared of breeding in a youngster at the much-awaited contest against India, which might give a nod to McSweeney.
"Ronnie [coach Andrew McDonald] and I have said it quite a bit - where you bat isn't that important," Cummins said.
"You try and work out how the batting order as a whole is going to function best. I don't think anyone should be super protective around a certain spot on that."
Australian legend Ricky Ponting, too, heavily backed the 25-year-old to start as opener in the Perth Test alongside Khawaja.
"So the only name left for me, more or less, is Nathan McSweeney... he got the most out of any of those guys from the A game in Australia at the moment. And he's more experienced. He has captained Australia A in the past, and he's captaining them now. So I'm leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer."
On the other hand, for India, there’s a case to be made for Sai Sudharsan, who could bolt himself into the playing XI for the Perth Test, in case Rohit isn’t available for the start of the series. India will always keep a close eye on the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who both are part of the larger setup.
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