IND vs AUS: Former Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting and Ian Healy have advocated the selection of Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney for a vacant opening spot in the national team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India starting in Perth on November 22. Australia is looking for an opening batsman to open the innings with Usman Khawaja after David Warner retired earlier this year and Steve Smith returned to his favorite number four. Players like McSweeney, Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris are among the contenders to fill this vacancy.
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Ponting said in the 'ICC Review Show', 'In my opinion, the only contender to fill this place is Nathan McSweeney, who is born in Queensland and is now playing for South Australia. He has also performed well for Australia A. ' Healy told SEN Radio, 'I am happy that people saw how well Nathan McSweeney can bat. I know him well because he is associated with my club. The Australian selectors also know about him because he recently performed very well for South Australia. He seems to be the most prepared among the four contenders.'
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Earlier, Australia's well-known batting coach Neil DeCosta, citing the example of India's Prithvi Shaw, has urged the Australian selectors not to rush to include 19-year-old batsman Sam Konstas in the team for the five-Test series against India. DeCosta believes that Konstas is not yet ready for the Test format. This young batsman is among the contenders to open the innings with Usman Khawaja in the series against India.
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