The first match of the 5-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy between the teams of India and Australia will be played in Perth from November 22. Australia has announced its team for this match. Before this series, Australia’s biggest question was to make the opening pair, for which they have taken a surprising decision. Australia has given the responsibility of opening to a 25-year-old player, who has not played a single international match yet. At the same time, Australia has taken a big risk by making this player an opener after 47 years.
New opener will enter the Border-Gavaskar series
Australia has included Nathan McSweeney as a new face in its squad for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Test series against India. He will open with Usman Khawaja in the opening match of the series. This will also be his international debut match. He was a part of the recently concluded India A and Australia A series. He was the captain of Australia A in the two-match unofficial Test series against India A, where Nathan McSweeney also showed amazing performance with the bat.
Let us tell you, Nathan McSweeney has played 34 first class matches so far. During this period he has scored 2252 runs at an average of 38.16. Which includes 12 half-centuries and 6 centuries. But he does not have any experience of opening. McSweeney bats at number 4 for his South Australia team in the Sheffield Shield. The first match of the two-match unofficial Test series against India A was also played at the same number. But he opened in the second match, where he flopped. In such a situation, it would not be wrong to say that Australia has taken a big risk by making Nathan McSweeney the opener.
Australia took this big risk after 47 years
Nathan McSweeney has never opened in his domestic career. In such a situation, this will be the first time in the last 47 years in Australian cricket that a batsman will start the innings without any opening experience. Earlier in the 1977 Ashes, Richie Robinson had started the Australian innings without any opening experience. That means now Nathan McSweeney is also ready to join Richie Robinson’s club.
