Melbourne. In the middle of the Border Gavaskar Trophy against India, Australia dropped its opener Nathan McSweeney and included 19-year-old Sam Constas in the team. This youngster will get a chance to debut in the Boxing Day Test. Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald has asked the Indian team to be careful with Sam. The coach defended the selection committee’s decision to drop McSweeney midway through the series and keep Sam in his place. He said that this 19 year old batsman will present a new challenge to India.
McSweeney was included in Australia’s team for the first three Test matches but he struggled to score runs. After this he was thrown out. The fourth test match between India and Australia will be played here from 26th December. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke had strongly criticized this decision of the selection committee but McDonald said that sometimes tough decisions have to be taken.
He said, “We wanted to present a new challenge to India. We believe that McSweeney is capable of playing at Test level. We were not sure how the top order would work, so we challenged ourselves with that decision.
MacDonald said, “Only time will tell whether this move will work or not.” There will be debate on whether this should happen or this should not happen. Anyway, matters related to selection are debated the most.
Young opening batsman Constas will debut in Test cricket in the Boxing Day Test match. Selector Tony Dodemide informed about the inclusion of this 19-year-old batsman in the playing eleven of the fourth Test match during the practice session on Tuesday. Constas will become the 468th player to play Test cricket for the Australian men’s team.
Constas will become the youngest Australian player to debut in Test cricket after Australian captain Pat Cummins. Cummins made his Test cricket debut in 2011 at the age of 18. McDonald said, “We wanted clarity about our batting unit before the team meeting. We don’t usually make this kind of disclosure but we wanted everyone to know that he is in the team.
Tags: Boxing Day Test, India vs Australia
FIRST PUBLISHED: December 25, 2024, 06:57 IST