Usman Khawaja believes his new opening batting partner Nathan McSweeney has the skills and temperament to be a long-term Test star despite a red-ball “myth”.

McSweeney was victorious in the hotly contested battle for the vacant opening batting spot in Australia’s Test team after top-scoring in both innings of Australia A’s first tour match against India A.

Despite usually batting at No.3 for South Australia, Khawaja believes McSweeney will handle the high-stakes nature of Test cricket just fine.

READ MORE: Mam likely to avoid stand-down policy as NRL ban looms

READ MORE: How new Wallabies ‘freak’ plans to get even better

READ MORE: Storm boss knocks back AFL giant in major boost

“Something that Nathan has done really well throughout is that he’s obviously been able to handle the pressure at [Sheffield] Shield level, and score runs consistently at Shield level from a young age … [but] like anything you have to experience playing Test cricket to be able to achieve and perform in Test cricket,” he told media on Wednesday.

“That doesn’t always happen straight away.

“You always go through ups and downs in cricket but when you look at Nathan and you look at his demeanour and the way he plays, you do feel over a longer period of time, yes, this guy will be able to handle the scrutiny and pressure of Test cricket.

“Even though there are no guarantees, I’m sure the selectors have made a calculated decision with him.”

In the absence of David Warner, Khawaja has warned fans to expect a slower scoring rate from the Australian openers — claiming it’s a “myth” that the partnership requires a fast scorer to be successful.

“I don’t know where this myth started that you need someone to score really fast to do well — I actually don’t know where that started,” he said.

“As an opener, you’re trying to score runs and you’ve got five days to do it.

“We didn’t have one Test match go for five days, last year. Opening is as much about scoring runs and just being able to absorb that time.”

He went on to explain how McSweeney could provide a point of difference to the now-retired Warner.

“Davey was special. He could score runs while absorbing. He could sometimes score 100 off 100 balls but he didn’t do it every time. Sometimes it took him 170 [or] 180 balls to get that 100,” he said.

“He was consistent, he was out there, he was setting a platform for guys later to come in and score runs.

“Those two are both very important things, and I think Nathan does that really well. He can score runs, but he can also bat time.

“They’re really important facets to have in Test cricket if you want to set games up.”

Khawaja, who himself made the transition from middle-order batter to opener, tipped McSweeney to thrive in the Test arena just by being himself and playing his natural game.

“He’s a very good player, he’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s very respectful,” he said.

“I haven’t met anyone who has had a bad word to say about him.”

McSweeney, 25, is the only player under 30 in the Australian Test squad.

Khawaja sees this as a chance for the right-hander to embed himself in the side long-term.

“We have an opportunity to put him in there with a lot of older, experienced heads, which might be able to help him,” he said.

“I feel like you can grow a lot quicker by not repeating the same mistakes that all the other guys made.”

Khawaja played alongside a young McSweeney with Queensland before he defected to South Australia in 2021.

Of their time as teammates, the run-scoring veteran remembers the youngster sporting “really poofy curls”.

“You couldn’t take him seriously with that haircut so I’m glad he cut that off,” he said with a laugh.

Australia’s Test series against India begins at 1.20pm AEDT on Friday, November 22, at Perth’s Optus Stadium.