There are serious concerns in the Australian camp about the availability of David Warner for the first Test against India that begins on December 17. However, if Warner indeed isn't available for the first Test, the Aussie team may provide a sight not seen in the last 20 years. It will be of two right-handed batsmen opening the innings for them.
These two openers, if things turn out this way, would be Joe Burns and Will Pucovski. Warner injured his groin during the second ODI against India on Sunday. He has been ruled out for the T20I series against India and now, coach of the team, Justin Langer, has stated that he isn't "holding his breath" hoping for Warner to be fit in time for the opening Test of the series.
Joe Burns has played quite a few Tests for Australia at the Test level but hasn't been able to retain his spot. Pucovski, on the other hand, is a highly-talented young batsman who scored back-to-back double hundreds recently in the Sheffield Shield. There is a third contender for the opening slot in the form of Marcus Harris, who opened the innings for Australia in their last series against India. But Burns and Pucovski seems to be ahead in the race at the moment.
So, who were the two right-handers who opened the innings for Australia 20 years ago? They were Michael Slater and Greg Blewett. These two opened the innings for Australia, together, 22 times. It was in March 2000 that they last came out together at the start of the innings.
Since then, Australia have used 33 opening pairs but not a single one of them has had two right-handers. The legendary Matthew Hayden-Justin Langer duo was the most prominent and played a key role in making the team a most dominant force in world cricket.
Aussies haven't been able to find a stable replacement for the Hayden-Langer duo since the two parted. David Warner established himself as an opener in 2011 and has opened with several other batsmen. The search for a long-term partner for him still continues.
In terms of history, the most successful opening combine for Australia in Tests, consisting of two right-handers, was the one of Geoff Marsh and David Boon. They scored 1871 runs at an average of 46.78 during thier stint.
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