McSweeney relishing 'unique' challenge combating Bumrah

With some Test runs under his belt and as a last-start century-maker at the Gabba, new Australia opener Nathan McSweeney is confident he can "throw a few more punches" at his Indian nemesis Jasprit Bumrah in the third Test, beginning Saturday.

Having debuted with a double failure in the series opener in Perth, McSweeney's first-innings 39 in Adelaide was one half of what proved a critical partnership with Marnus Labuschagne, helping set the hosts up for an emphatic series-levelling win.

The right-hander added an unbeaten 10 in the second innings to cap off an improved second showing in the Test arena, but it is the threat of Bumrah that looms over him as the action shifts to Brisbane: from 39 balls faced against the Indian ace, he has scored nine runs, with zero boundaries, and has lost his wicket three times.

McSweeney though, is opting to view the positives from his experiences so far; chiefly the probing session he survived against Bumrah brandishing the pink ball under lights on the first evening in Adelaide. 

"To get a bowler like Jasprit early on my career, it's not going to get much tougher than that," he said. "I can take some confidence getting through a spell in Adelaide, and the more I face him, the more comfortable I'll get against him. It's challenging, no doubt, but it's nice to get a little bit of confidence from Adelaide, and hopefully continue throughout the series.

"Facing him for the first time, he's quite a unique bowler … So (it's) just (about) adapting to his angle and where he delivers on the crease. I got two pretty good balls from him (in Perth), so (I) try and just wear that on the chin and trust that what I've been doing is going to be good enough. He got me again in Adelaide … (but) I'm really enjoying the experience (of trying to) work out a game plan on the run against a world-class bowler.

"Hopefully I'll get better the more I face him, and I can throw a few more punches hopefully here at the Gabba."

McSweeney was one of a handful of Australian batters training in the indoor nets in the National Cricket Centre on Wednesday afternoon, with both squads having touched down in Brisbane ahead of day one on Saturday.

The 25-year-old began his net session working with Marnus Labuschagne (one member of his small coterie of trusted batting advisors), hitting with only his top hand on the bat, before he worked his way into a more substantial hit-out.

It was Labuschagne who McSweeney worked closely with during his formative years with Queensland and that relationship continued even when the latter moved to South Australia in 2021, so it was something of a full-circle moment when the under-fire pair steadied Australia during a tense period late on day one of that second Test.

Labuschagne's 64 marked a return to form for the No.3, and McSweeney explained how watching his senior partner work through those struggles – from Perth to Adelaide – and come out the other side was beneficial for him as well.

"He's a beauty of a guy," McSweeney said. "I think what we see on TV when the bowler is bowling the ball, he's really intense, but in between overs, he's actually quite calm.

"It gives me confidence just realising that we're all going through the same stuff – I'm (in my) first game, trying to work it out, (and) he's 50 games in, still trying to tinker and work things out … it's a very important series, we're not quite all batting the way we want to, but there's always room for learning and tinkering, and we haven't all quite worked it out yet.

"So that gave me a little bit of confidence – we're always striving to be better, and I think that's what makes guys like Steve (Smith) and Marnus really good."

It's been more than a year since McSweeney turned out in a first-class fixture at the Gabba – also the scene of his first-class debut in October 2018 – but in that Sheffield Shield contest against his native state he stroked an unbeaten first-innings 112 before the South Australians claimed a thrilling win.

"I love playing here – the wicket has great bounce," he said. "Batting well at the Gabba (is about) leaving well in particular … you can really trust the bounce here, and it's about not fighting that bounce, and scoring square of the wicket.

"It's a ground that if you spend a long time out there, the game can open up and you can actually score quite quickly. So it's definitely a new-ball wicket, and if you can get past that, it's a lovely ground to bat on."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal