'Little warrior' Warner a certainty, but Langer faces 'hardest part' of job before 3rd Test
The Australian batting line up received a lot of criticism after Indian bounced back strongly in the second Test at the MCG, on the back of limiting the hosts' batsmen from scoring big runs.
Lack of runs from the batsmen at the top position were the main problems the hosts faced in the first two Test, and they have responded to the loss at the MCG by dropping a horribly out of form Joe Burns, and have relied upon the tried and tested pedigree of David Warner, although the southpaw is not 100 per cent fit.
The Australian team management showed their willingness to field Warner at the SCG keeping in mind the prospects of playing an unfit player because Warner’s absence has hurt the team’s fortune in significant ways other than being without the best opener. Head coach Justin Langer has all but confirmed Warner, whom he called a ‘little warrior’ will take the field on January 07 as he is moving well enough to not get his batting affected massively.
"Very, very hopeful that Davey (Warner) will be ready to go, he's a little warrior. It looks like he's moving pretty well, he's very determined to play. He loves the competition, he loves playing Test cricket so we'll get some final eyes on him at training this afternoon and make a decision after that. But I would say he's looking very, very likely to play the Test match and then we've got some other decisions to make with our batting order,” Langer said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
However, admitted that Warner will have to endure the pain of playing with an injury in his groin. He said that batting will be largely unaffected, while in fielding, his movement will be restricted by positioning him in the slips where he did not look uncomfortable and showed his ‘natural talent’ and did enough during the last Ashes series in England in Langer’s views to establish his credentials.
“I think his batting will be fine. There might just be some different movements he needs to make in the field, so we'll probably get him in the slips. I still remember clearly those brilliant catches he took at Leeds a year and a half ago (against England when regular slipper Steve Smith was sidelined with a concussion), so he's such a natural talent. He's going to be playing with pain though and it's not so much in the muscle but in the tendon area. We're confident that unless he does something exactly like he did in the one-day international, it's not something that's going to re-injure him. He's going to have some pain … but he's willing to take that on and hopefully it won't hamper him too much,” Langer said on how the hosts are planning to ease Warner back onto the field.
Another opener in contention—Will Pucovski, who is returning after a concussion, has sought consultation from an independent neurologist albeit being given a go-ahead from the Cricket Australia medical team. There was a lot of talk about the name of the second opener to partner Warner against India, but injuries to both Warner and Pucovski himself deepened the conundrum for the hosts.
Pucovski was in the red hot form before making it into the Test squad, but for Langer, the right-hander is yet to tick many boxes in terms of the balance of the team and the situation in the series, and that his place at the top of the order is not completely certain. However, he did not rule Pucovski out of the third Test but said that the lack of match practice against the red ball in recent weeks for both the contending opener can prove tricky against Indian new ball bowlers.
“Davey (Warner) hasn't played any four-day cricket for about 12 months now but he's a master of the game, and his experience will help him through that," Langer said. Will's a bit different, he's played a lot of four-day cricket, scored a couple of double-hundreds for Victoria and hasn't played for a few weeks. There's no reason why Will can't be selected now, it's just about working out the balance of our team, where we're at in the series, all those things that go into selection. He's going to be up and raring to get picked, and ready to play for Australia if he's selected.
Matthew Wade, who was made the makeshift opener in the absence of Warner to provide early momentum with the bat, should return to his number five position in case the team management decides to field Pucovski as the partner of Warner at the SCG. But, that will lead to opening up of another conundrum for the hosts as they will have to pick either him or Travis Head, who is under enormous pressure after failing to score big and throwing his wickets away on most occasions in the first two Tests.
Langer is not ready to play his cards right now and is willing to do the ‘hardest part’ of his job while deciding the composition of the team. Emerging all-rounder Cameron Green has looked in good form with the bat and has bowled with good control and pace to retain his position at the SCG, and that leaves the team management to take a tough call on choosing either Wade or Head for the third Test.
But, Langer has not given up yet on Head and said that the left-hander is capable of taking the game away from the opposition in no time and hence he commands respect in the dressing room. Ultimately, it will be all down to the balance of the team that will have its say on what Langer, Tim Paine, and selectors will do while selecting the playing XI for the SCG Test.
“Heady's a good player, he's averaging 40 in Test cricket, he's a really aggressive player in the middle overs, he can take the game away. He's currently in the team and whether that changes this game I can't tell you, we've got some decisions to make. But he's a very, very good player, and very well-liked and respected among the group. Whatever way we go, it's so hard to fit seven or eight into six (positions). It's the hardest part of my job,” Langer said on the tough task of selecting the players for the third Test.
 "Somya Kapoor")
