Former Australian skipper’s advice for Rohit; ‘Devastated’ McSweeney opens up on selection call

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has backed Rohit Sharma to come good, but the star Indian captain faces a significant challenge if he is to suddenly reverse his modest Test record in battles for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his son and has only 19 runs at an average of 6.33 in three subsequent innings through the matches in Adelaide and Brisbane. That he has fallen leg before wicket, bowled and caught behind is a sign of man struggling with his footwork, as a Fox Cricket graphic reinforced in the Gabba Test when his defensive blade was not under his head, as any good coach attests, but too far forward.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, pictured here in the MCG nets on Saturday, will be desperate for runs in the Boxing Day Test.Credit: Getty Images

His woes here have compounded a miserable year in which he has only 152 runs in his past 13 innings at an average of 11.7, with one half-century. If he was not captain, the national selectors may have moved on him by now.

Rohit worked hard in the MCG nets on Saturday but did not face a new ball, suggesting he will remain in the middle-order come day one of the Boxing Day Test.

It was a selfless act by Rohit, upon his return to the team, to leave KL Rahul at the top of the order, as he could easily have used his seniority to reclaim his opening role, where Indian great Ravi Shastri believes he should be batting. He deserves credit for that, but how long can India persist with him in the middle order?

Rohit looks certain to keep batting in the middle order.Credit: Getty Images

What cannot be disputed is that Rohit has a sub-par record against Australia, averaging only 30.29 in 14 Tests (25 innings), with one century and three half-centuries. That lone century was in Nagpur last year.

Those career numbers include the 15 and 43 he made in the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval last year. In Australia, his record is even worse, averaging just 26.68 in nine Tests (17 innings), with three 50s.

This compares to an overall career average of 41.24 in 66 Tests, and it’s instructive that in six Tests in South Africa – the country with conditions akin to what he is experiencing here – Rohit averages just 16.63, and is yet to pass 50. Even the seaming ball in England has not been as much of a concern to him as the typically hardened Australian decks.

Rohit has been a giant of white-ball cricket, averaging a nudge under 50, and it’s his confidence in that format that Clarke wants to see him take into Melbourne.

Clarke said Rohit’s struggles reminded him of the troubles former Australian opener Aaron Finch once endured.

“Finch is a good example. He will tell you – batting in Test cricket where the ball is moving, when you are a player who has dominated short-format cricket, it’s hard when your confidence drops,” Clarke said.

“I remember having conversations with Finchy – I’d rather have him go out and back himself from ball one. Sometimes, it doesn’t look great, but that’s the way these boys play. They are X-factor players, match-winners. Rohit is such an important player in the Indian team.”

Four months shy of his 38th birthday, Rohit faces an enormous task to enjoy a sudden Test rebirth. The expected conditions in Melbourne, where he has one Test half-century to his name, should help him, as they should in Sydney come the new year, where he has two Test half-centuries.

“I have not batted well. There is no harm in accepting that, but I know what is in my mind and how I am preparing myself,” a reflective Rohit said after the drawn Brisbane Test.

“All those boxes are very much ticked. It is just about spending as much time as possible [at the crease].”

‘Devastated’: Dumped McSweeney opens up as Clarke fires shot at selectors

Dumped Australian Test batsman Nathan McSweeney says he is “devastated” by his omission for the Boxing Day Test, but has vowed to return a better player.

As Clarke took aim at the long-term planning of the national selectors, McSweeney, 25, opened up at Adelaide Airport about his axing after three Tests against India where he managed just 72 runs at an average of 14.4.

“I mean, [I’m] devastated, the dream [had] come true and then didn’t quite work out the way I wanted. But, it’s all part of it – I’ll get my head down and get back in the nets and work really hard, and hopefully be ready to go for my next opportunity,” McSweeney told Seven on Saturday.

Sam Konstas (left) is in the Australian squad after Nathan McSweeney was dropped.Credit: Getty Images

“It’s the game we are in. If you don’t take your opportunity, and you are not performing as well as you want to, your position is never safe. So, I missed out a few times with the bat. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take my opportunity but, as I said, I will work really hard to make sure, if the opportunity comes around again, I am definitely ready.”

The decision to axe McSweeney from the Test squad and include young gun Sam Konstas has put selection chairman George Bailey and his panel under the microscope, with the major move coming despite the five-match series being split at 1-1 heading into the showcase match of the summer.

Clarke said the selectors had made the wrong call in dropping McSweeney, as the remaining top seven batters – aside from the uncapped Konstas – are aged 30 years or older.

“Everyone apart from Nathan McSweeney is over 30 years of age, and [in the] high 30s. What are we going to do? Continue to give a youngster two or three games, drop him, try someone else, and keep these older players?” Clarke said on the Beyond23 cricket podcast.

“What happens if Usman Khawaja in two Test matches retires? Does McSweeney then come back in, or does he go to the back of the queue? They [the selectors] have got to come out and say, ‘We made a mistake picking him.’ This could end Nathan McSweeney’s career. They picked him, [and] he deserved the summer.”

Clarke said the team’s senior players have not been contributing as they would have liked.

“No matter who they picked in that opening position, they had to give him [McSweeney] the series. I think the selectors have got this wrong. We’ve got Usman Khawaja who has just turned 38, [and] Uzzie has made no runs. He’s a senior player,” Clarke said.

“We’ve got Marnus Labuschagne, [who] we were talking about before the series, before he made his 60 – he has made no runs. Smithy [Steve Smith] batted like a genius [in Brisbane] and made a hard-fought hundred, but he’s been under pressure.

“Mitchell Marsh is in the team as the all-rounder – he bowled two overs in the [Brisbane] Test match. Selecting a player, and selecting your team, is not about right here, this minute. There is a lot more that goes into it.”

Upon announcing Konstas’ inclusion, Bailey defended McSweeney’s initial call-up, despite the stylish right-hander not being a specialist opener.

“It hasn’t quite worked out as you’d like it to … but it’s still very much the start of his career,” Bailey said.

Konstas, who was in the Test frame before the series began, joined the squad after a strong start to his summer. The 19-year-old NSW opener made twin hundreds in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia, a century for the Prime Minister’s XI against India, and another score of 88 against Western Australia at the SCG. He then brought up a 50 off 20 balls on his Big Bash debut.

He will become Australia’s fourth-youngest debutant – behind only Ian Craig, Pat Cummins and Tom Garrett – should he step out before a likely crowd of more than 90,000 at the MCG on Thursday.

Test great Adam Gilchrist said the message to Konstas would be to play with intent, something McSweeney had struggled to consistently do.

“It’s tough on McSweeney, the job they asked him to do, [to] bat out of position. I thought they would retain him … I thought they valued enough that he didn’t get the runs, but he took up a lot of overs and wore the attack down and allowed Marnus and even Smithy and Travis to come in a little bit later. But I think it’s the scoring, or the lack of aggression,” Gilchrist told Fox Cricket.

“I would imagine you would be saying to Sam Konstas, ‘Come in, play your natural game, we’ll back you in, we need you to be aggressive’.”

Josh Inglis has been retained in Australia’s squad as a spare batter and could come into calculations for the MCG Test.

Scott Boland is expected to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the XI, with Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott included as cover given the back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

India have won their past two Tests at the MCG, where conditions are typically more akin to back home, when there are more catches in front of the wicket. That they hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy means they need to win just one of the remaining two Tests to retain the prize.

Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s biggest nemesis, has a phenomenal record in Melbourne – his most successful Australian venue – where he has 15 wickets at 13.06 in two Tests. In a stunning summer to date, the pace ace has 21 wickets to his name at 10.09, confirming his reputation as an all-time great.

“Melbourne and Sydney suit India more than the first three Test matches. Australia have their work cut out. They have to be at their best,” Clarke said.

“If you had have said to India when they arrived in Australia, it’s one-all after Perth, [a] day nighter in Adelaide, and Brisbane, are you taking that? They would be doing backflips because they know our record of late in Melbourne hasn’t been great, and Sydney is a wicket that spin plays a part [on].”

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