‘Doesn't need to strike it like David did’ – Cummins encourages McSweeney to play natural game ahead of debut Test

It has been finalized that batting all-rounder, Nathan McSweeney, will be opening the batting for Australia in their first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against India. The uncapped McSweeney will be coming in for the legendary David Warner, who retired earlier this year. The boots to step into are understandably large, and there have been a lot of expectations placed on the promising talent to come good.

Skipper, Pat Cummins, acknowledged the immense challenge in front of McSweeney. However, he encouraged the debutant to stay true with his method.

"Davey (Warner) is very hard to replace, in many ways. I think the most important thing for someone like Nath (McSweeney), who is coming in, is just to play his own game. He doesn't need to strike it (at), you know, 80 like David did, if that's not his game," stated Cummins, as quoted by The Times of India. 

Cummins also added that he would hope to see the seasoned Usman Khawaja and McSweeney synergize together, like they have occasionally done for Queensland.

“So, for them (McSweeney and Khawaja), I would love to see them bring the best out of each other, they have played a little bit and batted a bit together for Queensland. But yeah, I think for both of them, it's about bringing what they bring to the table," noted Cummins.

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Nath is pretty similar in that regard: Cummins

The bowling all-rounder likened McSweeney to be of a similar nature to Khawaja in terms of how he goes about his batting.

"For Uzy (Usman Khawaja), it's about getting the bowlers to come back and back and back again. And I think Nath (Nathan Lyon) is pretty similar in that regard," he added.

Despite not being a regular opener, the Australian management has placed their faith in McSweeney to deliver with the bat. It will be interesting to witness the manner in which McSweeney handles the Indian bowling attack, as well as how he fares for Australia in the long run.