Axed Australian opener Nathan McSweeney broke his silence on being dropped from the squads for the fourth and fifth Test against India. The South Australian admitted to have been devastated but vowed to return to the drawing board to win his spot back.

With the series sitting at a knife's edge of 1-1, the selectors took the hard call of dropping McSweeney after the youngster struggled in his first three Tests. The right-hander became Jasprit Bumrah's victim in four out of six occasions and managed only a high score of 39 in six innings. Instead, Australia have added Sam Konstas in the squad and the youngster is likely to debut in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Speaking to 7news, McSweeney admitted that he failed to take the opportunities on offer and often spots are hardly safe if players cease to impress. The youngster stated:

"Devastated. It would have been a dream come true but didn't quite work out the way I wanted. I'll get my head down, go back to the nets and work really hard and hopefully, be ready to go for my next opportunity. I think that's the game we're in, if you are not performing, not taking your opportunity, your position is never safe. I missed out a few times with the bat and unfortunately, wasn't able to take my opportunity. But as I said, I'll work really hard to make sure if the opportunity comes again, I'll definitely be ready."

Australia squad for 4th and 5th Test against India:

Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head (vc), Steve Smith (vc), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.