The Test series between Australia and India will be different in many ways and that is evident even before a ball has been bowled in the series, as the hosts who used to reveal their playing XI have opted to keep their cards close to their chests while the touring Indians have revealed their playing XI for the Adelaide Test in a move not commonly associated with them.
There are troubles for the home team's captain Tim Paine with many players battling injuries and some lack of form. The absence of David Warner and Will Pucovski has made the selection calls complicated for Paine and Langer who are now weighing options such as the promotion of Matthew Wade to the top of the order.
Paine did not disclose the exact tactics the team was willing to walk into the Test with but hinted strongly at giving Wade a go to open the innings. He praised the left-hander for showing a perfect attitude of a team man and pointed out the fighting spirit Wade had shown in the Test series against New Zealand when the Victorian had to put his body on the line against the barrage of short balls bowled by Kiwi bowlers.
"Look, he's (Wade) certainly an option to open the batting. No doubt about that. I think we've got a number of guys who are willing to open the batting. That says a lot about our group, not just Wadey. But Wadey in particular, we saw against New Zealand last year with the short-ball stuff, he's willing to put his body on the line for his team. We know he's as tough as nails and he'll do a good job no matter where he bats. It's been nice. Obviously, we have got a scenario where we could have a different opener and we've had a number of guys put their hand up to do it if that's the best thing for the team. That's a great thing for us as a side," Paine said on Wade’s credentials to open the batting for Australia in Tests.
Concerns do not end here for Paine as the other opener who was a near-certain starter in the playing XI for the Adelaide Test, Joe Burns, is horribly out of form. But even he is not short of support from his captain and the leadership group that includes coach Justin Langer.
Joe Burns was out of form in the first round of Sheffield Shield and hence was included in the Australia A team to find form but instead, the Indian pacers have been able to dent his confidence further by dismissing him cheaply in all the four innings he batted against them.
But, captain Paine has reiterated his confidence in Joe Burns and said that the right-hander might be short of runs with the bat, but not lacking anywhere in terms of building up towards the first Test. Paine said that Burns averaged more than 40 runs per innings in Tests and it speaks of his class and consistency over a long period of time.
"Speaking to Joe, I don't think he is (lacking confidence). He's been looking forward to this Test match. His build-up in terms of runs hasn't been great but if you look at the work he's done solely in Test cricket for this team, it has been very, very good. He averages just over 40 in Test cricket," Paine added.
Although the Aussie captain did not confirm that Burns will be included in the playing XI, he dropped the strongest hint that the right-hander may well get a look in, saying that the team will back him to come good in Adelaide. He also said the selection of Burns will provide stability to the team selection and ultimately will benefit the team in the long run.
"If Joe walks out to bat tomorrow, we have full confidence in him doing the job, there's no doubt about that. Stability in good cricket teams, in good sports teams, is really important. That's something we've tried to build over the last two years...and have that stability around selection, it takes the worry out of it for certain players," Paine added.
The cricket fans and pundits were wondering what could have been the reason behind Steve Smith’s return from the nets on Tuesday. In the end, it turned out the right-hander was feeling soreness in his back but the team management was relieved that Smith came back to train on Wednesday. Paine confirmed that there were no injury concerns about Smith and that he will certainly play and also be an important factor for the Aussies’ batting line up.
"He's played all the one-dayers. Once we got to Adelaide he batted for four days straight so his preparation has been pretty good... very good actually. He's been out in the middle of Adelaide Oval, batting under lights. We expect him to play. He's had a stiff back before. Yesterday was more precautionary; he's in to train today, so we'll see how he goes but yeah come tomorrow, whether he's fit and sore in the back, or stiff in the back - I think he normally gets up, gets through it and finds a way to score runs like he always does," the home team's captain said on Smith’s batting form and injury concerns around him.
Paine had also said that the loss in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar series was hard to swallow for both him and the team and that they were looking for opportunities to get back strong momentum against the Indian team which has won the last two Test series between the sides. Paine would need his team to put up a strong performance to ward off the bad record in the recent past against Virat Kohli’s team.
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