Melbourne [Australia], November 21 : Former Australian batter Wayne Phillips, the last player to have scored a century for his nation on debut as an opener, offered a word of advice to young Nathan McSweeney, who is all set to make his international debut against India during the Perth Test of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Wayne, who played 27 Tests and 48 ODIs for Australia from 1982-86, scoring 1,485 and 852 runs with two centuries and 13 fifties, scored a century on his Test debut against Pakistan at Perth, a match-winning 159 in 1983.
Wayne Phillips as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, said that Mc Sweeney does not need to score a century on debut rather a solid score would work since he is in good form.
"He does not need to be getting 100 on debut. A good solid score would be fine. He is in really good form. He knows his game and we have seen that here in Adelaide," he said.
"I would expect that all the questions he gets asked by the India attack, he will be fairly confident that he has the right answers. Enjoy it," he added.
Reminiscing on his Test debut, Phillips said, "After the practice match Selectors thought, 'oh well, he must be in a bit of form, let us pop him in and see what he does. I was very confident with my form at the time. I was chuffed."
"It was pretty daunting. You walk into that change room and there is Rod Marsh, Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, who are genuine greats of the game. That was more daunting than going out to the middle," he concluded.
McSweeney is set for one of the biggest tests of his career, as he takes over the position of opening from legendary David Warner. The youngster has won the spot in Australian side after consistent performances for South Australia in domestic cricket and after a fine Australia A-India A series, during which he top-scored with 166 runs with a match-winning 88 as his best score.
McSweeney won a "bat-off" for the opening spot during the recently-concluded Australia A-India A series, top-scoring with 166 runs in two matches, including a match-winning 88 in the first game. He managed to outdo several competitors like U19 sensation Sam Konstas, domestic cricket veterans and once Aussie Test batters Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft to win a ticket to the high-profile series against India.
McSweeney has a solid first-class record, having made 2,252 runs in 34 matches at an average of 38.16, with six centuries and 12 fifties. His best score is 127*.
Coming to the series, after the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.
Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18. The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series' penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.