Last Updated on 57 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
Nathan McSweeney was the leading run scorer for Australia A in their 2-1 one day series win over India A in Puducherry. The Australian batsman spoke about preparing for the challenge of spin in India by watching videos of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith on YouTube.
McSweeney scored 194 runs in three innings at an average of 66.66 and strike rate of 83.62. He used his feet well through the series, often getting down the crease and stretching to play sweeps. He also used soft hands to find gaps against the Indian spinners.
RELATED: Australia A seal One Day series win over India A in Puducherry
It was McSweeney’s first official one-day series in India. The performances followed a tough beginning to the tour, with the batsman failing to convert his starts in the preceding unofficial Test series, in which Australia A lost 0-1.
Nathan McSweeney: “It’s a very difficult place to come and play cricket against tough competition always”
“I think obviously coming to India as an Australian it’s a heavy spin focus and you try and work hard and watch the great Indian players on how they play spin,” McSweeney told the host broadcaster after the white ball series ended on Sunday.
“Virat Kohli on YouTube trying to study how he goes about it, Steve Smith, other Australians that have come over and done really well. So, there are a lot of analysts and data that we’re also given. So it’s nice to get that out in the middle and execute that pretty well.”
McSweeney went on to say how pleased he was that Australia A managed to win against a strong India A team. The batsman also said that if he gets another chance to play in India, he would look to improve his performance in the first innings of long-format matches.
“I’m very pleased to come over here in good condition and spend some time in the middle, which is always nice, and a series win in India is no easy feat by any international team coming over,” McSweeney said. “It’s a very difficult place to come and play cricket against tough competition always. So yeah, well done to our boys and nice to get a series win.
“I think I got a couple of those games and missed out in the first innings. We saw anyone that watched the four-day stuff, as the game went on it got really hard to bat. I think I got a couple of thirties in the second innings of both those games.
“But I think where it matters, especially playing cricket in India, is that first innings of long-form cricket if you can get a big score there. It probably makes it easier for batting but it also sets your team up to win the game. So coming back here hopefully I get another chance. I’m really going to be trying to focus on that,” he said.
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