Australia have made several changes in their squad for the remaining two Tests against India. Their star pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the series due to an injury. Apart from him, there is only one exclusion in the squad as they have snubbed the young opener, Nathan McSweeney.
McSweeney played all the first three matches of the series but was not able to contribute enough to the team. Cricket Australia has replaced him with Sam Konstas who has been phenomenal in the domestic Cricket for the Kangaroos. It would be interesting to see if this change would make any difference for Australia.
Here are the 3 reasons why Australia dropped Nathan McSweeney:
1. 72 runs in six innings
The right-handed opener has struggled to provide a better start in most of the innings so far. Across six innings in the series, he has scored only 72 runs averaging just 14.40. His bad form has also made a bad impact on the middle-order batters of the Australian team.
2. Getting troubled by Indian pacers
McSweeney has appeared clueless against the Indian pace attack in the first three Tests, especially against Jasprit Bumrah which exposed his technical weakness. Despite having played in the challenging seam conditions, McSweeney was troubled by the Indian pacers’ swing and variations.
3. Sam Konstas is better option
Sam Konstas has replaced McSweeney for the remaining two Tests against Australia and he will be seen opening the batting for the Kangaroos. As mentioned earlier, Konstas has performed tremendously in the domestic Cricket. He also smashed a century against India in a warm-up game while playing for the Prime Minister XI. Konstas scored 107 runs off 97 deliveries which also shows his intent.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.