Opener Nathan McSweeney hopes to make a stand against spearhead Jasprit Bumrah during the third match of the AUS-IND tests starting Saturday.
Bumrah turned out to be McSweeney’s nightmare in his maiden test series as he dismissed the right-handed batter in the last two games but he came back well with a decent 39-run knock in the first innings of the Second test in Adelaide.
The young batter feels that it couldn’t better initiation to international cricket than face someone with Bumrah’s skill level.
“To get a bowler like Jasprit early on my career, it’s not going to get much tougher than that. I can take some confidence getting through a spell in Adelaide, and the more I face him, the more comfortable I’ll get against him.”
“It’s challenging, no doubt, but it’s nice to get a little bit of confidence from Adelaide, and hopefully continue throughout the series,” he told cricket.com.au.
“Facing him for the first time, he’s quite a unique bowler So (it’s) just (about) adapting to his angle and where he delivers on the crease.”
“I got two pretty good balls from him (in Perth), so (I) try and just wear that on the chin and trust that what I’ve been doing is going to be good enough.
“He got me again in Adelaide (but) I’m really enjoying the experience (of trying to) work out a game plan on the run against a world-class bowler,” McSweeney said.
“Hopefully, I’ll get better the more I face him, and I can throw a few more punches hopefully here at the Gabba.”
McSweeney who has worked with Marnus Labuschagne during his domestic career in Queensland and South Australia, has complemented each other.
“He’s (Labuschagne) a beauty of a guy. I think what we see on TV when the bowler is bowling the ball, he’s really intense, but in between overs, he’s actually quite calm,” McSweeney said.
“It gives me confidence just realizing that we’re all going through the same stuff I’m (in my) first game, trying to work it out, (and) he’s 50 games in, still trying to tinker and work things out it’s a very important series, we’re not quite all batting the way we want to, but there’s always room for learning and tinkering, and we haven’t all quite worked it out yet.
“So that gave me a little bit of confidence we’re always striving to be better, and I think that’s what makes guys like Steve (Smith) and Marnus really good.
Australia has secured scond place in WTC standings. The defeat in the Pink-ball test has moved India to third position in the WTC points table.
The third match of the Australia-India tests will begin on December 14 at The Gabba.
