Veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja backed his new opening partner Nathan McSweeney, urging him to play his own game against India in Perth rather than trying to ape David Warner, who was a “special player” in his own right. Approaching his 38th birthday, Khawaja, a veteran of 73 Tests with nearly five and half thousand runs and 15 tons, also believed that needing to score runs at a quick clip is nothing but an urban myth, and advised McSweeney to just “repeat the process” which has worked for him till date.
“I don’t know where this myth started that you needed someone to score really fast. As an opener you’re trying to score runs and you’ve got five days to do it. We didn’t have one Test match go for five days, last year. Opening is as much about scoring runs and just being able to absorb that time,” Khawaja was quoted as saying by news.com.au.
Talking about Warner, Khawaja said that not everyone is as gifted as his former opening partner, who could switch gears at ease in the traditional format.
“Davey (Warner) was special. He could score runs while absorbing. He could sometimes score 100 of 100 balls but he didn’t do it every time. Sometimes it took him 170, 180 balls to get that 100.
“He was consistent, he was out there, he was setting a platform for guys later to come in and score runs. Those two are both very important things,” Khawaja said.
Khawaja is confident that besides scoring runs at a fair clip, McSweeney also has the ability to bat time.
“I think Nathan does that really well. He can score runs, but he can also bat time. They’re really important facets to have in Test cricket if you want to set games up.” Khawaja warned McSweeney that there were “no guarantees in cricket” but said that the 25-year-old batter didn’t “have to do anything different” in the Test arena.
“You just try to repeat the process. . The only thing that really changes is that you have a few more people watching. Not many people watch Shield cricket.” Khawaja seems confident that McSweeney can handle the demands of an extremely high-skilled format like Tests.
“You always go through ups and downs in cricket, but when you look at Nathan, you look at his demeanour, you look at the way he plays, you feel that over a longer period of time that, yes, this guy will be able to handle the scrutiny of Test cricket and the pressure of Test cricket.” “Even though there are no guarantees, I’m sure the selectors have made a calculated decision with him,” Khawaj concluded.
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