{"id":3095,"date":"2020-11-30T01:30:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T02:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=3095"},"modified":"2020-11-30T03:20:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T03:20:41","slug":"legends-test-team-revamp-as-warner-is-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=3095","title":{"rendered":"Legend's Test team revamp as Warner is hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia should pick Will Pucovski for a first-Test debut regardless of David Warner's status, former captain Ian Chappell<\/a> insists.<\/p>\n

But if the superstar opener is out, then 22-year-old Pucovski must be guaranteed top the order against India in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

Warner was on Monday ruled out<\/a> of the remaining limited-overs fixtures against India due to a groin injury suffered in Sunday's second ODI. He is racing the clock to be fit for the first Test, where he's been tipped to open with incumbent Joe Burns<\/a>, despite Pucovski's youth and exceptional Sheffield Shield form.<\/p>\n

"I wouldn't write Warner off just yet for the Test match but if he is unavailable for the first Test … I'd look at it the other way and say that means Burns is going to keep his spot," Chappell told Wide World of Sports<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"But from everything the selectors have been saying, it sounds like Burns was going to play; Pucovski, they may have played him in the middle-order<\/a>, I don't know. But if Warner's not there, surely to heavens they've got to open the batting with Pucovski<\/a>."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chappell said that Pucovski needed to be part of a significant injection of new blood this summer, outlining a plan to debut all-rounder Cameron Green (21) and leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson (27) in the fourth Test in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Australia would hope to have wrapped up the four-Test series by then, given their early ascendancy in white-ball cricket and the fact that India's champion batsman, captain Virat Kohli, will return home after the first match.<\/p>\n

"If Sydney's a fairly normal Test pitch and there's a bit there for the spinners, and I'll be surprised if it's not, then I'd like to see Swepson play with Nathan Lyon," Chappell said.<\/p>\n

"And I think that would be the opportunity to play Green and bat him at six. Four or five-over spell, that's fine. You've got [Marnus] Labuschagne, he's a reasonable change bowler. <\/p>\n

"You're not looking for a hell of a lot [of overs]. They might even be able to fit another all-rounder in there, then you've got [Travis] Head, some off-spin from him.<\/p>\n

"I know it's not pace and going from a [Pat] Cummins and [Josh] Hazlewood or Cummins and [Mitchell] Starc straight to a Green and not having any other pace options, the modern captain's not too comfortable with that. But the other thing about it is India won't have Kohli by the time you get to the Sydney Test.<\/p>\n

"There's an opportunity there to have a look at Green and I'd be taking it."<\/p>\n

\"Cameron<\/p>\n

Veteran middle-order batsman Matthew Wade, who has reinvented himself as a Test player after previously wicketkeeping for Australia, may prove the odd man out<\/a>. Chappell also said that ideally, Pucovski and Green would spend valuable time batting with Warner and Steve Smith at Test level early in their careers.<\/p>\n

"Matthew Wade's not going to be there for a hell of a long time, whereas Green, if he's up to it – same as Pucovski, you could have him for the next 10 years of so," Chappell said.<\/p>\n

"Granted, you've got to pick a side to win the game. But you also have to have one eye on the future.<\/p>\n

"You could easily be having Wade, Warner and Burns, three guys all leaving at around the same time. Whereas if you head down the Pucovski-Green path, then you're probably looking at only having to replace one major player.<\/p>\n

"The other thing about that is you're bringing Pucovski and Green into a team that's got Warner, it's got Smith; two very good and very experienced players. That's a good time to start bringing young guys in.<\/p>\n

"Even more so for Pucovski, you've got Warner down the other end opening the batting. Well, what better partner to give him to start his career than Warner?<\/p>\n

"He doesn't have to worry about his scoring rate because Warner's going to keep things moving along. All he's got to do is make sure he gives Warner plenty of strike, so it makes his job easier coming in.<\/p>\n

"That's part of your job as a selector: try and pick a guy when he's got his best chance of succeeding. Well, Pucovski's got two double centuries, so you know he's in form. You open with him when Warner's at the other end, that's another advantage and giving him a better chance to succeed.<\/p>\n

"That's the way you've got to think in selection. You pick a team to win the game but if you can then do a little bit of manoeuvring to get younger guys into the team that you think are going to be pretty decent, get them into the team so you're not suddenly having to replace two or three really good players at the same time."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With the chemistry between Warner and Burns touted as a reason to retain the right-handed Queenslander, there's been chatter that a debut for Pucovski could prompt a Test recall for Victorian opening partner Marcus Harris; himself in strong form this season. Yet Chappell puts little stock in that theory.<\/p>\n

"I don't think it makes too much difference who you're batting with," Chappell said.<\/p>\n

"If you're at that level, the bloke down the other end's going to be pretty competent and he hasn't gotten there by running out all of his partners. It might take a few minutes to really gel but no, you pick the blokes who you think are best for the job.<\/p>\n

"I reckon Harris and Burns are about on a par. I don't think either of them you could categorise as definitely long-term."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia should pick Will Pucovski for a first-Test debut regardless of David Warner's status, former captain Ian Chappell insists. But if the superstar opener is […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3095"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3097,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions\/3097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}