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Australia's young opener Nathan McSweeney who made 39 and 10 not out in the pink ball Test against India is hopeful that he will likely throw punches against Jasprit Bumrah in the third Test match scheduled to start from December 14 in Brisbane Gabba.
Australia are coming into the third Test match after registering a 10-wicket win in the second Test to level the series. McSweeney who made his debut in the Perth Test is hopeful that the more he faced Bumrah, the more comfortable he got against him.
"To get a bowler like Jasprit early in my career, it's not going to get much tougher than that and I take some confidence from getting through a spell in Adelaide. The more I face, the more comfortable I'll get against him," he was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Bumrah had taken eight wickets in the Perth Test, before adding four more in Adelaide to emerge as the best Indian bowler on tour so far.
McSweeney, who was handed a debut after the opening spot was left vacant by the retirement of David Warner, described Bumrah as a "unique" bowler.
"Facing him for the first time - he's quite a unique bowler. He's obviously world-class and a bit different to most bowlers I've faced. [It's about adapting to his angle and where he delivers on the crease," said McSweeney, who was one of the Australian batters to train at the National Cricket Centre on Wednesday.
"I got two pretty good balls from him [in Perth], so to try and wear that on the chin and trust what I've been doing is going to be good enough.
"He got me again in Adelaide - he's a great bowler, and really enjoying the experience of trying to work out a game plan on the run against a world-class player. Hopefully, I'll get better the more I face him and can throw a few more punches here at the Gabba."
McSweeney put up a 67-run stand with Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings of the day-night Test. Labuschagne also returned to form with a 64 and McSweeney said watching the senior player helped him to play against India.
"He's a beauty of a guy. I think what we see on TV when the bowler is bowling the ball, he's really intense, but in between overs, he's actually quite calm," McSweeney said.
"It gives me confidence just realising that we're all going through the same stuff – I'm (in my) first game, trying to work it out, (and) he's 50 games in, still trying to tinker and work things out … it's a very important series, we're not quite all batting the way we want to, but there's always room for learning and tinkering, and we haven't all quite worked it out yet.
"So that gave me a little bit of confidence – we're always striving to be better, and I think that's what makes guys like Steve (Smith) and Marnus really good," he added.
The ongoing Test series is important for Rohit Sharma-led India to seal their spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final which is scheduled to take place next year in England. India needs to win all of their remaining Test matches to confirm their berth for the WTC final for the third consecutive time.
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