Usman Khawaja backs Nathan McSweeney as opening partner in BGT

Brisbane: Australia batter Usman Khawaja has laughed off the subject of Nathan McSweeney’s strike rate of 41.92 being lower than his in Tests 48.3 and expressed belief that the young all-rounder is ready to take up the job left for grabs after David Warner’s retirement. The 25-year-old South Australian skipper will make his Test debut against India in Perth’s first Test starting next Friday and set to be slotted in as the opener alongside Khawaja for the five-Test series against India. Having featured in 34 first-class games, McSweeney has 2252 runs to his name at an average of 34.16. His promotion to the senior team comes on the back of an impressive couple of outings in the Sheffield Shield, and a match-winning knock against India-A in the first of two Tests. “I don’t know where this myth started that you need someone to score really fast to do well. For me, it’s a myth. As an opener, you’re trying to score runs. You’ve got five days to do it,” Khawaja told reporters on Wednesday. For Khawaja, successful opening in Tests is as much about resilience as it is about runs. “Opening’s as much about scoring runs as it is about being able to absorb. Davey (Warner) was special; he could score runs while absorbing, but he didn’t do it [score fast] every time. Nathan does that very well, setting a platform,” he said. While some question McSweeney’s ability to adapt to opening, Khawaja, who himself moved up the order after starting as a No. 3, expressed confidence that his partner’s mental toughness would serve him well. “There’s no guarantees in cricket…but he doesn’t have to do anything different. Just repeat the process. He’s been able to handle the pressure at Shield level. When you look at his demeanour, the way he plays, you do kind of feel over a longer period of time he’ll be able to handle the scrutiny, the pressure of Test cricket,” said Khawaja. –IANS