Usman Khawaja says it’s a “myth” that an opening combination needs a fast scorer as he endorsed the selection of Nathan McSweeney as his new partner at the top of Australia’s batting order.
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South Australia’s captain McSweeney, 25, has won the battle to fill the vacant opener’s role despite him batting at No.3 in Sheffield Shield cricket.
Khawaja, who himself made the transition from middle-order batsman to opener, backed McSweeney to succeed playing his natural game, and felt he didn’t need to change his style by becoming a dasher in the mould of retired opening batsman David Warner.
“I don’t know where this myth started that you needed someone to score really fast,” Khawaja said ahead of the start of Australia’s Test series against India on Friday week in Perth.
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“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.
“Davey 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, and 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.”
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However, Khawaja warned McSweeney that there were “no guarantees in cricket”, but said that his former Queensland teammate didn’t “have to do anything different” in the Test arena.
“You just try to repeat the process,” he said.
“The only thing that really changes is that you have a few more people watching. Not many people watch Shield cricket.
“Something that Nathan has done really well throughout is that he’s obviously been able to handle the pressure at Shield level, and score runs consistently at Shield level from a young age … (but) like anything you have to experience playing Test cricket to be able to achieve and perform in Test cricket.
“That doesn’t always happen straight away. 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.”
This summer’s Gabba Test next month will be tied to the Usman Khawaja Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth through education and cricket.
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