McSweeney reveals how studying Virat Kohli’s YouTube clips helped Australia A conquer India

Nathan McSweeney, who made his Test debut against India during the 2024-25 BGT, watched YouTube clips of batting giants Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to help Australia A conquer India. The right-handed batter scored a stunning hundred in the first unofficial ODI, helping the visitors draw first blood in Puducherry. McSweeney finished with 194 runs in three innings, averaging 64.66 and striking at 83.62 on surfaces that were not the easiest to bat on.

"I think obviously coming to India as an Australian, it's a heavy spin focus, and you try and work hard and watch the great Indian players on how they play spin," McSweeney told the host broadcaster after the white-ball series ended on Sunday.

"[Watching] Virat Kohli on YouTube trying to study how he goes about it, Steve Smith, other Australians that have come over and done really well. So, there's plenty of analysts and data that we are given as well. So, it's nice to action that out in the middle and execute it fairly well."

On his first India visit, McSweeney let his footwork do the talking in the series opener, and never let the India A spinners take control of the game. He used soft hands to find gaps, which made his knock special and memorable. Relishing the challenge, McSweeney said India is not an easy place to bat, with competition against the host nation always tougher.

"I'm very pleased to come over here in good conditions and spend some time in the middle, which is always nice, and a series win in India is no easy feat by any international team coming over," McSweeney said. “It's a very tough place to come and play cricket against tough competition always. So, yeah, well done to our boys and it's nice to get a series win.”

Lesson to learn from failed red-ball outings

Unlike how he prospered and guided Australia A to a series win in the 50-over matches, McSweeney failed to make his starts count during the two unofficial Tests. He said he took his lessons from that and hopefully will return better the next time he tours India.

Meanwhile, Australia will tour India for five Test matches in January next year.

"I think I missed out in the first innings of a couple of those games," McSweeney said. "We saw anyone that watched the four-day stuff, as the game went on, it got really hard to bat. So, I think I got a couple of thirties in the second innings of both those games.

"But, I think where it counts, especially playing cricket in India, is in that first innings of long-form cricket if you can make a big score there. Not only is it probably easier for batting, but also sets up your team to win the game. So, coming back here, hopefully I get another opportunity. I'll be really trying to focus on that."