Chandigarh, December 12, 2024 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau)- Nathan McSweeney‘s start to Test cricket has been anything but a bed of roses. The biggest thorn has been Jasprit Bumrah. Called up to open the batting in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as Australia took baby steps towards filling David Warner’s void at the top of the order, McSweeney registered 10, 0. 39 and 10* in the two Tests against India. All of his three dismissals came against Bumrah. He was all at sea against the Indian spearhead in Perth. To be honest, none of the Australian batters seemed to have an answer to Bumrah’s fire in the series opener and McSweeney was on debut. The right-hander put up a much better show under lights in he day-night Test. He was obviously helped by a dropped catch by Rishabh Pant early on off Bumrah’s bowling, but the way he got through the final session of Day 1, combating another testing spell from Bumrah, was commendable.
“To get a bowler like Jasprit early in my career, it’s not going to get much tougher than that and I take some confidence from getting through a spell in Adelaide. The more I face, the more comfortable I’ll get against him,” McSweeney was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Bumrah had taken eight wickets in the Perth Test, before adding four more in Adelaide to emerge as the best Indian bowler on tour so far.
McSweeney tried to explain why Bumrah is different from most other top-quality bowlers in the world. “Facing him for the first time – he’s quite a unique bowler. He’s obviously world-class and a bit different to most bowlers I’ve faced. [It’s about adapting to his angle and where he delivers on the crease,” said McSweeney, who was one of the Australian batters to train at the National Cricket Centre on Wednesday.
McSweeney promises to throw punches at Bumrah at the Gabba
“I got two pretty good balls from him [in Perth], so to try and wear that on the chin and trust what I’ve been doing is going to be good enough. He got me again in Adelaide – he’s a great bowler, and really enjoying the experience of trying to work out a game plan on the run against a world-class player. Hopefully, I’ll get better the more I face him and can throw a few more punches here at the Gabba.” McSweeney shared a 67-run stand with Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings of the day-night Test.
Summary: Nathan McSweeney praises Bumrah’s bowling but says he’ll throw a few punches at him during their upcoming match at the Gabba.