Canberra [Australia], : Uncapped player Nathan McSweeney is likely to make his Test debut for Australia and he could open along with left-hand batter Usman Khawaja in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 after he was promoted to the top of the order for the upcoming clash between Australia A and India A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
McSweeney managed scores of 39 and 88* against India A in Mackay last week when batting at No.4, but will move to the top of the order for the tour match in Melbourne in a bid to prove he is the right player to claim the vacant opener's spot.
The retirement of long-time opener David Warner at the start of the year and the return of veteran batter Steve Smith to his preferred role at No.4 has left a hole at the top of Australia's batting order ahead of the visit of India and the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While McSweeney has never opened at domestic level previously, Australian great Ricky Ponting recently suggested the right-hander had impressed him enough and was the obvious choice to partner regular opener Usman Khawaja at the top of the order against India.
"Don't think they'd go back to a Bancroft or Harris because if they're willing to do that they would've done it the last year. the only name left for me more or less is Nathan McSweeney, who is Queensland-born and now playing for South Australia. He got the most out of any of those guys from the 'A' game in Australia at the moment. 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," Ponting said on the most recent episode of The ICC Review.
{{/usCountry}}"Don't think they'd go back to a Bancroft or Harris because if they're willing to do that they would've done it the last year. the only name left for me more or less is Nathan McSweeney, who is Queensland-born and now playing for South Australia. He got the most out of any of those guys from the 'A' game in Australia at the moment. 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," Ponting said on the most recent episode of The ICC Review.
{{/usCountry}}Ponting's thoughts appear to be shared by Australian selectors, with McSweeney to open alongside Harris against India A this week, with fellow Test hopefuls Cameron Bancroft and teenager Sam Konstas to bat behind him.
Australia's selection chair George Bailey said the game in Melbourne will help determine the makeup of the 13-player squad that the reigning World Test Championship winners will select for the opening Test against India in Perth.
"As flagged prior to the series the batting order was subject to adjustment throughout the two-match series. We will use the opportunity this week to gather our final information before the announcement of the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Series following the Australia A match," Bailey said.
India will use the match against Australia A to provide fringe batters KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel with an opportunity to impress ahead of the Test series that commences on November 22.
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