New Delhi: Australia on Friday announced a change to their squad for the final two Test matches against India, adding 19-year old Sam Konstas to the team in place of Nathan McSweeney. The two batters remained in the news before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as Australia sought an opening partner for Usman Khawaja and McSweeney finally made the cut.
However, the Aussies availed McSweeney’s services just for the first three Tests, dropping him ahead of the Boxing Day Test. The call-up to Konstas comes on the back of twin hundreds that he scored in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield earlier this year. He raised the selector’s eyebrows with another century in the two-day pink-ball practice in Canberra against India.
While announcing the change, Cricket Australia’s chief selector George Bailey stated that the team is looking for something to throw India off their path. Bailey felt that Konstas’ different approach could help the Aussies achieve that. It is noteworthy that Australia’s highest opening partnership in the series is 31 in the six innings so far. The pair of Khawaja and McSweeney hasn’t worked well and as the former keeps his spot intact due to seniority and experience, Bailey reasoned the axing of McSweeney.
“You can say the way our top three are playing has been reasonably similar and we’d like the ability to throw something different at India off the back of that. If you look more broadly, I don’t necessarily think the top six has quite functioned to the level that we need in this series as a whole,” Bailey said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“Think Sam’s method, his style, is different to Nathan’s, different again to Beau’s and Josh’s as the other batting options within that team and we think they provide the options of a different look and a different make up for the XI come Boxing Day”, Bailey added.
‘He was performing well’ – Bailey
Bailey did mention the reason for picking McSweeney ahead of the series, saying that his form was a crucial factor but admitted that things didn’t pan out as the Australian team or McSweeney would have expected.
“In the lead-up to the series he was performing incredibly well. Think the key around that was his methodology and the way he plays, we believe he doesn’t change too much wherever he’s coming in in the order. It hasn’t quite worked out as you’d like it to do at the start, but it’s still very much the start of his career,” Bailey stressed.
Australia dropped opener Nathan McSweeney ahead of the Boxing Day Test against India, roping in teenager Sam Konstas as his replacement for the final two Tests. Aussie chief selector George Bailey reasoned this major change. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
