Nathan McSweeney played an instrumental role with the bat in Australia A’s 2-1 victory over India A in the ODI series in Puducherry. The young talent was Australia A’s leading run-scorer, capping off the series with 194 runs across three innings. He averaged 64.66 and maintained a strike rate of 83.62, making massive use of the conditions. Meanwhile, after Australia’s series win, McSweeney credited his success to meticulous preparation, revealing that watching videos of cricket greats Virat Kohli and Steve Smith on YouTube helped him maintain his approach.
"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. You know, 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's plenty of analysts and data that we are given as well. So, it's nice to action that out in the middle and execute it fairly well,” McSweeney said at the post-match presentation.
In the first ODI match, McSweeney blazed a super knock of 123, and in the second and third games, he returned with the scores of 32 and 39, respectively. However, McSweeney had a dull start to the series, failing to score big in the preceding two Tests. Meanwhile, India won the third ODI by 49 runs to claim a consolation win.
"I think I missed out in the first innings of a couple of those games. And we saw anyone that watched the four-day stuff; as the game went on, it got really hard to bat. So, I think I got a couple of thirties in the second innings of both those games,” McSweeney said.
"But, I think where it counts, especially playing cricket in India, is in that first innings of long-form cricket if you can make a big score there. Not only is it probably easier for batting but also sets up your team to win the game. So, coming back here hopefully I get another opportunity. I'll be really trying to focus on that."