Hope I can throw a few more punches at Jasprit Bumrah at Gabba: Nathan McSweeney

Rookie Australia opener Nathan McSweeney hopes to ‘throw a few more punches’ at the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the third Test at the Gabba, starting on Saturday. Bumrah tuned out to be McSweeney’s nemesis in his maiden Test series as he dismissed the right-hander thrice in the last two games but he came back well with a gutsy first innings 39 in the first innings of the second Test in Adelaide. The young opener feels that it couldn’t get better initiation to international cricket than face someone with Bumrah’s skill level.

“To get a bowler like Jasprit early on my career, it’s not going to get much tougher than that. 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,” he said.

“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.