It is not easy to make your international debut in the high-pressure Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It is harder still to face Jasprit Bumrah in the peak of his powers and get home unscathed. Australia youngster Nathan McSweeney went through this exact challenge when they took on India in late 2024, being dismissed by Bumrah on four different occasions and failing to make a single half-century. Now, McSweeney has opened up on the trial by fire, and the struggle of the Australian batting as a whole to deal with Bumrah.
For the uninitiated, Bumrah took a Border-Gavaskar Trophy record 32 wickets in five Tests in the series, being by far and away the most dangerous bowler in the series. Such was Bumrah’s prowess that he was named the ‘Player of the Series’ despite India losing 1-3 in the end.
“Tough work is probably an understatement. He’s an incredible bowler. I was probably naive going into it, never faced him before and (thinking) it’ll be fine. But he’s an incredible bowler, who not only has great skill, but also just a relentless ability to pitch the ball in the area where you don’t want as a batter,” McSweeney said, speaking on the Willow Talk podcast.
In three Tests, McSweeney managed scores of 10, 0, 39, 10*, 9 and 4. He was dropped from the Australia team for the final two Tests after that.
However, McSweeney stated that it gave me a little bit of relief that every batter was struggling against Bumrah, not just him alone.
“It was a very tough challenge, but also gave me hope that no one had great success against him. Everyone was trying to tackle him at the same time and no one was playing him with ease, which gave me a little bit of confidence,” McSweeney stated.
Bumrah was voted the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2024, picking up a total of 86 wickets across all formats in international cricket; 24 more than anyone else.
McSweeney’s replacement, Sam Konstas, slammed an aggressive half-century in the fourth Test, with Australia going to win the final two Tests. Konstas even took the attack to Bumrah, reverse scooping him for six on his Test debut.
However, McSweeney and Konstas were both left out of Australia’s squad for their two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.
Bumrah is now aiming to get fit for IPL 2025. However, reportedly, Bumrah is set to miss at least the first two games of the season.
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